The trait system is really beginning to grate on my nerves!

[Excalibur Bane]

Personally, I think the bad traits system is a good counter to having too much money and too much opulance. When you are at a stage where you have too much money the game becomes too easy, this is a little bit of a leveller thats all.
Edit it out and you are just making the game easier still. Then, no doubt, you will be complaining that there is no challenge in the game.
There is a reason these things are in the game, just overcome them and win. Much more satisfaction dude.

EDIT: How the h*ll can anihilating a city using ten onagers with unlimited ammo be satisfying? I think we are very different people, I prefer a challenge.

I've never complained about anything being too easy. I just don't do it. But punishing a player for having too much wealth or planning ahead just a little to well, is a retarded game mechanic. Period. If this was the case in reality, every empire in history that was successful would have run itself into the ground with drunken fools and dotards that didn't know how to run an empire.

I'm glad that you prefer a challenege, I prefer entertainment. If you cannot see the fun factor in obliterating a city in the above mentioned fashion, then I guess your one of those realism junkies. To each their own.

At any rate, I'm being "challenged" sufficently by the WRE. The rest of my enemies are smoking ruins at this point. We are in something of a stalemate, he sends hordes of troops to siege my cities, I slap them down, and have just enough time to recover before he hits me with another wave. I think every one of my generals has the "Eagles Collector" trait at this point.

The ironic part is, that most of my losses are not at the hands of his troops but rather those autocannon ballista mounted on those damned siege towers. They cut down 100 of my men every siege I go through with ease. Whoever came up with that unbalancing little idea is clearly mistaken*. There simply isn't a way for a siege tower to pack ten ballistas inside the tops of them. Very annoying.