Asymptote isn't really sub-par though, we have two resources and an Oasis. But it isn't the best, and I agree with your general sentiment. We can definitely already see at least one solid city on the Indian petal (Axiom, two clams + fp + who knows) and I'm sure there will be more, and Singularity at home is also valuable.
But in the same line of thought, accepting that yes, everything won't be settled immediately, it can be worth just as much in game terms to deny an opponent economy and resources. If CDZ has three!! cities they've settled here made pretty worthless, due to us out-pressuring them, that puts us still in a strong position in regards to them. And given the alliances setup in the game, we're not the most worried about out teching everyone else or something, but being in a stronger position to emerge from the middle game, that's a key accomplishment. There's only six total teams and it's going to come down to direct confrontation in most cases, it's not like there are really distant opponents we're going to fall behind. So it's a fine balance - I'm not for going more overboard on CDZ but we have one city about to be founded now that I think is necessary, after that I'm happy to adapt and consider other positions.
Still I may be rambling - and I do want to say I was rather strongly for REXing and finding good city sites at the start, certainly would have been nice if we were in a little better position regarding that, but where we are now we're all trying to get the best outcomes for the team.