I am so addicted I am considering lying about having small pox and locking myself in my bedroom unitl October. All kidding aside, it is foolish to fear dissapointment from a game that is specifically made with control freaks in mind. If there is anything in the game you don't like, mod to your specifications and move on with the game. I am playing every chance I get so I can test out the map making features and give some input into how to mod them and really give each realm a more immersive feeling. So far factions have't been differentiated, as every troll with an internet connection has been pointing out this week, but the fact that they are so similiar is a good indication that they will get a lot more work in the future. I am currently thinking about how to create five or six types of economy that any race can specialize in given their location and the goods they have been given. Of course special buildings and unit bonues are a good way to flavor a faction or race, but this game allows so much more creativity. I will make a seperate post for my ideas.
-It should be possible to make one race survive on trade, another on conquest, and yet another on magical creation; all based on what resources they start near.
-It should be possible to have some factions and races spawn soldiers/denizens very quickly, allowing for weak and numerous armies to be built very soon, while others may have a single soldier defending their vast lands.
-It should be possible for a mage society to conjure massive armies to defend their realms.
-It should be possible for there to be a totally mundane faction, whose Sovereign is some kind of void-magic anomaly, not affected by magic at all and has a special kind of hatred towards magicicians.
-It should be possible for a Sovereign to gain his magical abilities from the worship of his followers (like the Ori in the mediocre ending of Stargate SG-1).
-It should be possible to have a faction that relies on technological advancement, never having lost any tech from the cataclysm thanks to their Sov's underground fortress they have been living in for the past 100+ years.