That's good too karadoc.
When, I mentioned different colors for each team, I was thinking of individuals, not multiple people on each team. Though, if a Blue team had each of it's members having a different shade of blue, then, we could easily tell which team they are on. The same for green, yellow-gold, reds etc.
We need to know that the players are in the game, just not show their color if the color is one from the normal game. If a random color setting is chosen, or something like I just mentioned, then, we couldn't know what empire they actually have.
I guess, that is my main pet peeve.
As soon as, see the color showing that a specific empire has joined the game on turn 0, then I already know their color, starting techs, UU, and UB.
When, I bump into their scout, I can tell by their leader, which traits I am up against, which is fine, because I play with "Unrestricted Leaders", so they could be of any empire. Masking their game empire name (such as using the custom name) would prevent me from knowing their UU and knowing which units to build to counter them.
For example, my scout runs into a scout from Hammurabi of Egypt.
I now know his melee will have combat1 and I will need to build spearmen to fight those war Chariots.
If, my scout ran into a scout from Hammurabi of Greenland, with a color I chose or a random one, I would know to be wary of the Combat1 melee, but still not know the UU or UB.
I would have to send a warrior out near his capitol to watch for what is built. If, I see a War Chariot come out, then I know his empire.
This would also help, if someone played America, Germany or Russia and had UUs and UBs that were late or almost non-existant. We usually can rush them, knowing they have no UU to stop our attack. For example, I wouldn't rush out to attack Churchill of Native America, but I might for Churchill of America.