So I took a break and decided to play a couple games over the weekend, its really a very small sample size of low-elo play (1k-1.1k).
That said, playing vs the new civs felt bad, not necessarily because of balance or gameplay, but because of the players that pay2win. They were either just bad or clearly only interested in exploiting the overpowered aspects just to win. Which is the point of pay to win. There even is a "go to store" button next to the new civs.
pay2win mechanics attract bad players that are not fun to play against. Im not ranting about the balance or gameplay choices the devs make, but the way pay2win (and pick2win) are bad for the "user experience".
tl;dr= pay2winfeelsbadman
That said, playing vs the new civs felt bad, not necessarily because of balance or gameplay, but because of the players that pay2win. They were either just bad or clearly only interested in exploiting the overpowered aspects just to win. Which is the point of pay to win. There even is a "go to store" button next to the new civs.
pay2win mechanics attract bad players that are not fun to play against. Im not ranting about the balance or gameplay choices the devs make, but the way pay2win (and pick2win) are bad for the "user experience".
tl;dr= pay2winfeelsbadman