[PrinzMegaherz]

This discussion is pointless.

The AI is as good as can be expected from a 2 man team. And I surely would not say that it is that bad. It is definitly a match for new players, and if I want a very challenging game then I play Mictlan (the nation I suck most with) against difficult Ermor.

The main problem with doing the AI is the following: You have to work out solutions for every possible situation, even those you have never encountered yourself, or situations where you actually don't know what to do. This might be fairly easy by such a simple game as heroes of might and magic, where you can calculate your decission down to a few parameters... however dominions 2 is so much more complicated with so many aspects to consider that the devs would surely need another ten years or so to code every smart solution.

What Illwinter actually did, very smart in my oppinion, is to take advantage of the computers strengths. Even today people discuss about the perfect army, the perfect strategy, and there is so much knowledge around here the AI could never match. Instead the AI uses some options that nearly every human would be too lazy to employ: It does the maximal recruitment possible out of every province and assemble huge armies.
Indeed, in most of my SP games and MP games involving AIs, they will leave everyone far behind in sheer numbers. Even tough their armies might not be the best designed, they are still a threat nontheless (in my current MP game, one of the more peacefull but most powerfull players dropped from the game. When the AI took over, its onslaught nearly brought 3 of his neighboring empires to its knees.

Imho the dominions 2 AI is comparable to that of Warcraft 3. Demanding at first, its not a match for an professional player.