>starting a new country from nothing is fun
>exploring the map is fun
>claiming valuable land and resources is fun
>developing your economy and infrastructure is fun
>defending your borders from barbarians is fun
>fun stops when you get to war because while you were busy building a nice country another player was just spamming troops and rushing military technologies so you just get stomped with doomstacks for merely existing
I genuinely wish there was a game that was based ONLY around this early phase of every civ game where you explore the map, expand your borders and grow your economy without the part where some agressive player rapes you. Preferably with more detailed economy.