Hmmm. Our games tend to end in 3-4 hours, with the full victory conditions. Our group is used to playing Advanced Civ, so perhaps our play styles have developed to be used to highly resource competitive environments. Out TI games typically end with 2-3 players within spitting distance of winning, with another 1-2 with some strategic strength, and the last 1-2 pathetically weak as a result of being hit within the first few turns. The middle group with some strength can thwart one of the frontrunners. The final race to win ends up being somewhat diplomatic, as one of the frontrunners pushes his or her luck, and ends up losing as a result. The 1-2 weak players are rarely eliminated, since they make excellent body shields.

My main criticism of the game is that 1-2 players end up feeling left out for the entire duration. The game gives incredible rewards to an early aggressor, so one of the warlike cultures can easily shut out a non-warlike culture if they act right away. There is not enough buffer zone. It seems that the game would work better with the home worlds in an out-er ring of hexes. I personally would like to see more checks and balances added (like Adv Civ). As it is, the game favors a rich get richer pattern (cards can provide some defenses, but the stronger players get more cards, and many of the cards are not useful in the hands of weaker players).

I frequently hear people say "TI games always go like this..." Overall the mechanics of the game do not seem to determine the play nature as much as the people. This is both a strength of game design and a weakness of game balance.