I've been playing Civ since 3, I'm not as exprienced as other users here far from it, but I've always enjoyed the game and find the AI difficult which I find to be a huge positive. Often in games the AI is dumbed down on the earlier levels, which is Civ I actually like the huge bonuses that are given to the AI in order to tip the scale. I currently play at King right now (I believe, I think it's the 5th level actually) and find it difficult enough that I really find the game to be extremely entertaining and challenging which is why I'm playing it. So really I strongly disagree that the AI is dumb or too easy, in fact I think it's at a very satisfying level. Again I'm clearly not the best player or most experienced here, but I would definitely not be criticizing the game for difficulty when I find each edition to be more challenging and more entertaining.