Mighty good conclusion Didz. I would hate to see a continuous RTS like map and I would hate to see Civilization like complexity.

I do like to see a system where you can give orders to your governors. It's already a bit in R:TW with the settlement settings (balanced, financial, etc.) but I would like to see it less abstract. Give me back the S:TW throne room and add visiting governors, messengers that give orders to far away provinces, emissaries.
I would like to see less of the player controlling/overseeing everything but more of being dependable on your minions.