Can we please get rid of defections? They're extremely unrealistic and ahistorical (e.g. Byzantine units shouldn't suddenly start flipping to the Arabs).
Also, starts should probably be more conditional, e.g.:
-When the Byzantines spawn, they should only get cities that are under Roman control. It doesn't make sense for Persian cities to suddenly go over to the Romans just because they divided their empire.
-Civs like Spain, France and England should only appear if the Roman empire has collapsed- it doesn't really make sense for them to pop up if Western Europe is still solidly under Roman control.
-The Ottomans should only appear if the Seljuk invasions actually managed to conquer Anatolia- it doesn't make sense for them to spawn if the Turks never make it into the region.
-Shenyang probably shouldn't flip to the Mongols. Likewise, the Levant and Mesopotamia should not automatically flip to the Arabs- they should have to conquer it as they did historically.