I posted a thread almost exactly like this after a few months of Age of Mythology being out and being a part of that community. It was the same problem - the next game in a great Series was somewhat dumbed down and also sped up - and somehow I also lost my drive to play it.... which never happened with MTW or AoK. I don't think it's entirely due to the speed of the game, perhaps it's that the game seems much more related to doing things the fastest they can be done and not the most intelligently. Perhaps it's the fact that in RTW the Romans aren't going to get whiped out, no way - not unless you do it yourself. IN MTW there was a chance that any Civ would get knocked off. I think I'll get more into playing once more mods come out though.

I"m not totally bored of RTW - but my excitement to play it each time is definately flagging. I'm waiting for the patch and for the EB mod.