Basically, the less numbers I have to keep track of, the happier I am. If I want to play a full-fledged TBS, I have buckets of computer games that'll make the calculations faster.
To me, IOT is a game of the imagination more so than anything else. I recognize the need for some set algorithms to keep the more eccentric players in check, but whatever's delegated to statistics becomes one less narrative device. Call me lazy, call me inflexible, call me too anarchic, but I maintain that the simpler the game, the faster the pace, and the easier it is on both the players and the GM.
I guess the issue I take is that early IOT was a game of the mind, a skirmish of wits (if I can be so generous), and now it's evolved into a somewhat depersonalized board game. I'm not saying that's bad, but I think it makes it less accessible. That's why my only participation post-IOT4 was your honourable-if-tragically-short IOT6, and why the sequel I'm working on places such a heavy emphasis on roleplay to determine hard numbers. IOT3 had maybe two real wars on a minuscule scale, but the whole international terrorism scenario was a lot of fun, and it was done nigh exclusively through inter-player textual development.
But of course, this all boils down to a matter of taste.
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