There it goes, fun factor low.

[MikeV]

Medieval is based off of a simple risk board style battlemap, which it seems by now is proven to be superior than the Lords of the Realm II style map they've been using since Rome. It prevents the AI from being too mind numbingly dumb. None of the theoretical advantages of the current map style even come into play in ETW, ...

From all the complaints here, though, I'd swear people haven't played Rome or MTW 2. Nothing about either of those games is superior to ETW.

For the campaign map part of the app, I'd consider the Shogun & Medieval (1) system as the "Mk. I, Risk-like" version; Rome, Medieval 2, and Empire use the "Mk. II, LotR II-like" system.

I agree with your assessment that the earlier, simpler map made the AI seem more effective.

The unanswered question is whether the AI for the current system can be made effective at all. As various folks have pointed out, it's currently passive to the point of being uninteresting.

I suppose the folks who are enjoying the game, in its present state, are into MP and/or nice eye candy ... "not that there's anything wrong with that."