It swings both ways, too. Most of us have been playing IV for so long that we've stopped noticing the parts that aren't that great or make no sense (even after patching). Nobody can convince me that, for example, corporations (while a neat idea) works that well or is even very fun. I'm hoping most people can agree that "Stack of Doom" makes war in IV really really stupid, even if they don't like the new way.
While it's not the game I was hoping out of the box, I think the "bones" are there for V; and I think that by the time it's gone through its life cycle and CivVI release is upon us, we'll be seeing this same thing over again.