my finding is that competitive players want little change or find great value in small tweaks.

....because 0 AD is at least according to my understanding of the vision is not supposed to be a fast paced game.  I'm sure there are some great points other people have made, but since you have not even bothered to link a topic for me to see, I will not address them.  Players that are used to it being fast paced would probably balk at the change, but that doesn't make it a bad thing.  A classic example of a community backlashing at a fundamental game design change happened in Darkest Dungeon.  The team still stuck to it, and it could be argued that the game is better for it.  When I say the team, I am referring to the people responsible for changing the fundamental aspects of the game, not players.  My point is that if players are falling behind, there can be comeback back mechanics to give them a chance. To stress it,  I am not telling players to "get gud." When I talked about training from houses, I regarded that as an aspect of the early game since it is available at the Village Phase.  Naively enough, I have researched it in the Village Phase in part to supplement a Phase I Champion rush.  I probably am playing quite suboptimally, but don't fault a person for regarding a Village Phase technology as an aspect of the early game.  Maybe it should be a Town Phase tech.  What do I know?   You have said that the early game has few decisions compared to later phases.  While that is true, there still are a plethora of options available.  You can build four types of units at your starting building when most RTSs only allow you to train one or two.  You can research six economic technologies in that phase.  You can build stables.  Maybe there are ways it could be spruced up, and training times being increased may show its weaknesses.  The point is that slow =/= bad, and also the change I am pressing for is quite modest.   This I would particularly highlight since it would do wonderful job not just of helping players reinforce their fronts; it would also help represent the transition from citizen militia to professional forces.

Pls don't remove citizen-soldiers!! Is one of those original stuff the game has.

1. Is there a Germanic civilisation? I know theres one for Delenda Est, but I don't know if it works with Vanilla 0 a.d. 2. Is there a modern warfare mod? There is a scenario featuring planes in the game so it is doable.

You will kiss the feet of the 30 people who regularly play on the lobby and you will like it. It's their game. You should know that by now. 

Gaming setup of a hardcore 0ad lobby player 1700+ :   Closed order Spartan Hoplites with Olympic champions (taken from Delenda Est) Has From Nub to OP guide printed out Watching ValihrAnt videos on a side screen for reference + strategy inspirations Box with 0ad logo on it Physically modded gaming keyboard with extra buttons for OP hotkeys + sniping Couldn't afford a high-end gaming mouse so no flex there.

Yes On low wood maps, it's even pretty common to gather a female battalion to support an attack.