hey total agree with your thoughts and other's

to be honest i don't even see this game as another installment of TW game series.

MP is a complete joke

the MTW MP forum wasnt brilliant BUT it was easy to understand and gave you the basic infomation ie ping\map\era\florin level and 4VS4
(and it was nice and bright) unlike a dark RTW where its nearly impossible to keep up with the half displayed text chat.

if CA where to totally change the MP gamespy lobby\interface back to something like MTW, i might be interested in learning how to play the game!!!
(in a mp sense)
i find the game speed rather fast and its a nightmare trying to control your units, grouping is a complete joke, and the camara is a pain

with roman factions the foot units all look the same!!!!!

hehe and lets not forget you dont need a gamespy account to log-in