Dalthius, the "sandbox" thing is pretty much the way I think of it. The victory condition is pretty darn trivial anyway. However, micromanagement does become quite tiresome once you have a large empire. But then if you stay small, you still have that countdown in the back of your head, ha. Well, that's how it is for me anyway.
I do like your idea, though, HoreTore, I'll try and use that in my next campaign. I'm really looking forward to the expansion because it sounds like the campaigns are going to be much more goal-oriented and allow for keeping a smaller footprint.
After beating the game with England, I think my next campaign will be with the HRE, seems like that will stay chaotic a lot longer with fronts on all sides, haha. ;-)