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Mandatory list:

1. Agreed
2. Agreed
3. Maybe 12 nations is probably the upper limit to keep things sane on a normal map? What makes it ugly is if one nation doesn't manage to run away with the game: a battle between two powerhouses can go on forever.

Optional:

1. Do you mean to reduce micro for other nations, so they don't have to set up a bunch of temples/preachers? Or is it the blood hunting/slave buses micro? One thing you might want to do is eliminate all blood mage summons. Otherwise they are almost as bad as gem generators. Maybe make 10 unique Vampire Counts or something, and 6 unique Vamp Lords, and something similar for Mictlan's summons?

2. The killer globals can be good for ending games faster, in some cases.
Forge: painful for the caster, since he needs to micro a lot of forgers
AN: Good for ending the game faster (if you can keep it up)
AC: Painful for everyone, having to deploy bodyguards and/or script returning. But 10 earth attacks a month has the same effect.
Utterdark/BoT: Good for ending the game earlier.

3. How about making all mid/upper level summons, (even trolls and golems) unique?

4. RAND is great (I've only had a bit of RAND experience, as a sub, but I liked it), but no diplomacy (including no trading) might suffice. It's a bit easier to set up and the admin can play.