Perhaps they prepare the maps for naval stuff being introduced, increasing the sealevel. Just wishfull thinking I guess, doesent seem like we will see that before in an expansion pack....

Having the water is nice, but haven't you noticed that the maps now, have a lot more water and a lot less land to build on?

I wouldn't say "a lot more" or a "a lot less", but coasts seem a little bit more fragmented, and mountains often block the landscape and passages are narrower

I play on large maps, dense monsters and fewer AI, the proportion between land/water/mountains seems quite right to me

To be honest I am currently tired of the expansion race with the AI, the AI expands so quickly all over the map leaving me nowhere to expand and I cannot come up with a tactic to avoid it, since I cant get sight of the land quickly enough, so I barely play since I am not too happy playing this game as a 1 city challenge all the time.

Last couple of games I played though, there was plenty of land, most of it was just with rubbish soil, guess I should play on the fertile setting instead of balanced, since I always end up in the middle of a desert and a swamp.

I even tried setting the AI down to Challenging from Hard, but still not enough time , and when it comes to combat they are rubbish...

Sincerely
~ Kongdej

I'd like it if there were an option for the AI to not so aggressively expand.  Maybe an option "Expansionists" or "More Balanced Expansion" or something like that.  Isolationists might be another word, but that also implies they don't want to be diplomatic with other nations.

I have progressed to EASY difficulty, and I really don't know how the AI can do what it does without cheating.

I go as fast as I can but when I meet the AI he has 10 times what I have of the map, plus his army's are enormous.  I barely have enough time and resources to build one or two units, were the AI has a endless stream of them, that he throws at you without let-up.