Games lasting longer...?

Hello everyone! I am new to the community, but you have all been helpful when I visited this site for information. So thanks for that!

My question is pretty straightforward:

Are the marathon games lasting A LOT longer for everyone here? I started my first BNW game on Prince as Assyria (Large Earth map). I still do not have nuclear fission and it is AD 2020. I would have this tech by 1900 before BNW. Am I doing something incorrectly that makes the game last much longer or is it just the expansion?

Also, I have another question. Is the AI better as the new civs? Seriously, Poland and Brazil are extremely good when compared to Egypt and India (the next best two in the match). I do not know if this is just coincidence in my match. Poland is kicking butt and I just destroyed Brazil and landlocked their one city in the center of Africa. Poland is still doing outstanding no matter what I do to it. I got it embargoed and city states were embargoed a long time before. They still make tons of money in their massive empire. They are also culturally amazing. These new civs were just so much better against me!

Yes. Tech rate is 5% slower per city and with 5 or more cities, it's really noticable. You'll have to burn or sell most cities you conquer. I play on Marathon and man... late game is a real marathon. I wish i could play marathon up until the funding of WC and thn switch to epic.

I thought it was 2% on marathon, unless the tech penalty is affected by map size as well. /plays Huge Marathon

It is still possible to overpower the tech penalty, but requires better management of your core cities and more vertical growth.

lol, I thought it was 3%. Ya tech does seem a little slower, not 120 years slower. But I can see how you could fall behind that far from previous games. The expansion phase is why I think it is slower. You cannot afford to rush that 2nd and 3rd city like you could in Van and G&K.

It is linked to map size.

Yes. The games are longer, which I notice on standard time, and there is more reason to go later into a game "you know you'll win" because the AI is a bit better at the long term planning aspects and the later things that go on.