Yeah, the only thing I don't like with the VEM is that it is still being developed, so there are constantly updates. And sometimes the updates don't work well, because their forum is very suggestion-friendly; if an idea gets enough support they try it in the next patch, most of the time it works but a lot gets reverted or changed every time.
The last game I tried in VEM the AI was bugged and was getting ridiculous amounts of influence with every city state. Had over 6000 influence with each one and was impossible to steal one away from him, ended up losing a culture victory on Prince which is extremely low for me. So yeah, its still a work in progress but we learn from every patch and retune and refine to make it as balanced as possible