What is up with these killler Mod Packs?

[DarkSchneider]

In a few weeks time, individual users have come up with better graphics and playability than the official Civ team did in two years. What's up with that? If people here can do it in their free time, I think Firaxis may be hiring the wrong people

 

[Thunderfall]

Firaxis let one little painting affect the game's graphics far too much. The painting directly restricted artists' imagination because the graphics they made had to conform with the color scheme and style of the Tower of Babel painting.