Well, I finished the game with a turn 338 victory. The game definitely started to drag a bit by the end, I was just hitting end turn as quickly as possible to try and get to the victory vote.
- How many cities did you build and how many did you decide to acquire?
I built 5 myself, with my capital on the coastal hill near the tundra (and supported by a naval food trade route), then spreading south and east and on one island just past Kyzyl. I managed to push expansion early enough that Brazil had nowhere to go and was stuck at two cities. Or at least they were until turn 200 or so, when Assyria and I teamed up to remove them from the game. I got Rio out of the deal, but I left it as a puppet and just spammed trading posts.
- How did you use religion or spying to your advantage?
I was mostly ahead on tech by the time spying came around, so I used the spies to get free influence with city states. Towards the end I swapped them all over to diplomats to take advantage of globalization.
- How did diplomacy go with your neighbors?
Things were very peaceful, at least with me. The only war I entered was the short one where I swiped Rio from Brazil. That left me with the largest army for a while, at least according to the demographics screen, so I guess nobody else wanted to fight me. However, that didn't stop Persia and Assyria from divvying up the Mayan territory between them, and as I was ending the game it seemed everyone decided that Assyria was the new dog pile war target.
- How did the difficulty level affect your game decisions?
I tried for more early wonders than I usually do, so I managed to get the Great Lighthouse (didn't need it), the Colossus, and most importantly the Forbidden Palace. Lost Petra before I had even researched currency, so my desert coast city just north of Riga was still decent but not phenomenal.
- Did the new Diplomacy Victory conditions change how you play a diplomacy game?
I definitely started spending money on city states very early for me, sometime in the Renaissance, hoping to control the World Congress instead of waiting for the end game to worry about them. Mostly, that strategy worked, keeping out the options I didn't want and pushing mine through, so I kept spending that way all game and had 12 of the remaining 13 city states in my pocket by the end.
- How many cities did you build and how many did you decide to acquire?
I built 5 myself, with my capital on the coastal hill near the tundra (and supported by a naval food trade route), then spreading south and east and on one island just past Kyzyl. I managed to push expansion early enough that Brazil had nowhere to go and was stuck at two cities. Or at least they were until turn 200 or so, when Assyria and I teamed up to remove them from the game. I got Rio out of the deal, but I left it as a puppet and just spammed trading posts.
- How did you use religion or spying to your advantage?
I was mostly ahead on tech by the time spying came around, so I used the spies to get free influence with city states. Towards the end I swapped them all over to diplomats to take advantage of globalization.
- How did diplomacy go with your neighbors?
Things were very peaceful, at least with me. The only war I entered was the short one where I swiped Rio from Brazil. That left me with the largest army for a while, at least according to the demographics screen, so I guess nobody else wanted to fight me. However, that didn't stop Persia and Assyria from divvying up the Mayan territory between them, and as I was ending the game it seemed everyone decided that Assyria was the new dog pile war target.
- How did the difficulty level affect your game decisions?
I tried for more early wonders than I usually do, so I managed to get the Great Lighthouse (didn't need it), the Colossus, and most importantly the Forbidden Palace. Lost Petra before I had even researched currency, so my desert coast city just north of Riga was still decent but not phenomenal.
- Did the new Diplomacy Victory conditions change how you play a diplomacy game?
I definitely started spending money on city states very early for me, sometime in the Renaissance, hoping to control the World Congress instead of waiting for the end game to worry about them. Mostly, that strategy worked, keeping out the options I didn't want and pushing mine through, so I kept spending that way all game and had 12 of the remaining 13 city states in my pocket by the end.
- short sessions ..
still, I could/should have planted 3rd and 4th city like you did to get observatories. I got no excuse for that suboptimal play.
) but I can not say the same for Diplomacy Victory. 
Won the DV vote with 45 votes (32 needed).
