I'm on the side of having borders like [-----A-----------A------][-----B-------B----] and would prefer intense military situations (or a friendly trade situation) to look like [------A--------A][-B--------B----] instead of [---A--][---B--][--C--][--A---][----B--] or something like that. I think it would give it a way better RPG feel because even close towns in RPGs take a long time to get to one another (ex. in DA Denerim to Lothering).

@Climber

I think that limiting population and having different village types is a great idea but you don't need to have a bunch of small villages close together to make it feel like an RPG, what about the typical isolated fishing villages in RPGs? And you can have one big mining city if you have a close farming village/city (or a friendly one) to ship food to it, but it will be risky if the farming village is destroyed but thats part of the strategy. I also completely agree that the world should only have a couple or few large metrolpolises where developement depends on the location such as: land fertility, trade routes, $ put in, political importance, defence, religious importance, security, economy etc. These places would also be where many political meetings take place (like the united planets in GC2)

On a general note I think I know and like what Boogie is thinking make it feel like an RPG before a Civ game.   

I know its only a matter of opinion, but your saying you would prefer something like this in a fantasy setting:

Over this?:

What ever you posted between your lines I can't see just shows blank spaces. But I would like to be able to expand the empire build and or take over cities and spread out over the map. This is not an RPG with a party of adventurers exploring dungeons. This is a Fantasy world that you’re trying to conquer. I would love to see as much of the RPG element brought into the game but I also want to control an Empire with its cities and vast armies and such.