"the game no longer reflects an 18th century view of world conquest". Why should it? Running a war empire is costly, sacrifices production for military over infrastructure, and usually results in unhappiness for the empire. The whole point of the game is that world powers change and adapt to "stand the test of time". Changing game mechanics beyond "conquer" is exactly the same thing. That's why there are multiple win conditions. This dullard barely had an argument to begin with, and it's a bad one.