The other thing that is interesting, kind of unscientific, but I'd say map hack was pretty prevalent in the old version. Worst than I thought. I'm having a much easier time with similar ranked levs than in the past on the old servers. I mean much, much easier. I doubt my game has improved that significantly. The game kind of feels slower now, i.e. I'm not being attacked constantly or magically outnumbered in certain parts of the map all game long. My tech choices aren't as anticipated, etc.
Woah, you articulated what I've been thinking very well, and I agree m8.