I think a lot of people, like me, don't care that much about playing at the highest possible difficulty they can thrive on. I'm one of many people who hate the artificial difficulty that is very noticable above Emperor. So with all the new things added, there are more options for me to find my own challenges in the game without resorting to handing cheats to the AI, hence why I turned it down a notch
I guess some people see this as RP'ing? But the game should be easier for me now from what I've read. On high difficulties, aggression before I could catch up was my biggest problem and that seems lessened somewhat.
EDIT: And btw, things like a four city opener are pretty straightforward. Even people who don't frequent the boards do those, usually exactly the same. Most people that enjoy this game know how to think for themselves.
Once I got the hang of the new mechanics I found myself playing my first Emperor game (I usually played on King), and I found it really engaging. Less maniacal AI, I think, helps to get your civilization developed before the big wars start and makes the late game more interesting.
everything went well in my 2nd immortal game (was playing france and going for culture) got all the wonders i wanted - which suprised me and then on turn 312 when i though i was coasting. (all 5 remaining civs following order) so i thought it was in the bag and Shaka happened.
I had a reasonable military - about 4 infantry, 1 cannon, 4 gatling guns around the city in question + rush bought 3 bombers and 1 sub
It took him all of 3 turns to take the city ... it was all going south from there so i chalked it up as a loss ....
I guess im still not ready for Immortal - Shaka
But otherwise for someone who just moved up to Immortal i feel quite comfortable ...
I usually play Prince, but it's more for not being fond of artificial difficulty, as it's always a bit too easy. I didn't feel the need to change the difficulty, but I had some botched games, mainly for not understanding the new system and reworked wonders.
Once I got the hang of the new mechanics I found myself playing my first Emperor game (I usually played on King), and I found it really engaging. Less maniacal AI, I think, helps to get your civilization developed before the big wars start and makes the late game more interesting.
Bison21, I think you are right. Certainly in my experience. I have always found King just right on Gods and Kings, giving me a good challenge which I have usually managed to pull through against. I have tried King on BNW twice and got nowhere. I am now playing on Prince level and am starting to make headway. Brilliant expansion though.