As a veteran from Civ 1 & 2, I must say that I have never been such a warmonger until now in Civ3 in Deity. In Civ 1 & 2, I would very rarely go to war in the Ancient Times, but in Civ3 it's different. Of course it's a good and a bad point : good, because otherwise why the good of having antic units ? bad, because in Deity it's almost necessary to fight for land, which could be good, but nearly ALL the games end (errr... begin) like this.
I think that the Civ sequel is too war-oriented. It hasn't struck me that much until recently. I really love the new cultural dimension they added (and they could improve it). The idea of an economic victory sounds VERY interesting ; e.g. we could have to get a monopoly on a bunch or all of the resources... Diplomacy and trade could be improved, once again.
I think that the 2 major things about the relationships between nations are war and trade ; I even wanted to create a game named or subtitled like that. When 2 nations are at peace, they trade. When they're at war... they're at war. Civ3 already features this, but not too deeply IMO. Also, building a gigantic army is not a major problem in Civ3, even in the Ancient Times. All warmongering empires eventually found a size limit to their armies, because of limits of population, resources and money to support it... Combined with a tendency to stick with the same old strategies and tactics, and all armies someday found themselves obsolete and powerless. Ok, in Civ units become obsolete, but they upgrade. But, one day or the other, all empires reached their apex, before decadence. In Civ you are proposed to build an empire that will stand the test of time. So I think that going warmongering should have a real cost, and, once you have gained a certain amount of land, or destroyed an opponent, you should be forced to have a rest because of this huge cost. Think of the logistics part that is not represented at all in Civ, but that really was a huge effort for the Ancient empires, and it's still the case today (Iraq).
Word of conclusion : One could argue that Civ aims to be (quite !) simple and that it also deals with everything. That can be true. But additon by addition, we will somehow end up with a game that will be more realistic than ever, and still playable. What comforts me is when I see what has been implemented in this sequel so far. Remember battleships destroyed when attacking a phalanx on the shore in Civ1 ?
Wouldn't bother me if they put something like that in.
