I'm starting to get the idea you like being tourney-meister, Geo...
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Comments:
Not in favor of "Mediocrity" type empire restraints (designing empires, I think, is part of the skill of the opponents, IMO).
Would like to see Chess style tourney (Swiss pairing) of 4 (or 5) rounds. A quick summary for the Google-impaired: Example, 12 players. Ranked by rating. #1 plays #7, #2 plays #8 (etc.). A point (for tourney purposes) awarded to a winner. After the round is done, line up the players as follows: all with one point (according to rating) form a Category then we break that in half (like the first round) and (assuming #1-#6 all won) #1 plays #4, #2 plays #5. And the same goes for the players with 0 points. There are various other rules to use if you would be paired up with someone you have already played and for pairing down. If odd number of players in the tourney, lowest rating gets a bye. The only disadvantage in this is having to wait till the entire round is completed so that pairings can be done for the next round.
I'm in favor of using your Balance mod, that provides a good field to play on (and has shown me that I must have had too many good maps in the past because it seems like I have to play my *** off to win on the map...Joachim being the latest example...not that I've won...I've just been playing my *** off to be competitive
).
Other suggestion:
To help distinguish an all-around expert player, set up some varied rules from round to round (i.e., 0 racial points, full-tech, or must take one of the special races).