First game I decided to end up rolling the dice, because I had a hard time deciding, and wound up with China. First impressions were that the map looks gorgeous, and somehow production feels... better? I don't have any data on whether or not costs were rescaled, but building things felt much less like a chore than normal. Might've just been a solid start, but I felt like I was producing things faster than I would in R&F.
I started near Saladin and Persia, but sure enough, Kupe washed up on shore right nearby me. I can see the Maori becoming a really annoying Civ to deal with, because right after landing, he sent out another settler to forward settle me. Naturally, I had to engage in some... conflict resolution. Annoying, but really interesting situation that only the Maori could give; I'm going to enjoy hating them in future games.
I also had a sandstorm pop up in a desert near me, which naturally improved a lot of tiles nearby me, might mess around and build Petra (especially since I'm China and all). Quick question: does anyone know if natural disasters can improve city centers? Because I could've sworn my city-center was on a 2-2 tile, but now it's a 2-3. Not sure if I just wasn't paying close attention or if city-centers are subject to the fertile tiles rule. If they are, then that's pretty neat.