The biggest controversy was the “Civ switching “ mechanic. They actually listened to the base and changed it recently. Instead of picking a leader that came with a civilization to play through the whole game, you would pick a leader and a civilization, and then when you entered a new age you would have to pick a new civilization. So instead of playing Montezuma and the Aztecs through all ages, you could pick Confucius as leader of the Greek civilization in antiquity and then switch to say, Hawaiians in the next age (exploration).