It's inevitable... my scout will roam the lands, found some goody huts, contact some civilizations and end up killed by some dirty barbarians. Their city always feel the fury of my whole military after this.

I didn't liked Civ V so far. I guess if you are new to Civ, or was not happy with the previous edition this one may fit the bill but I think they took too much, and added too little. The game seen made to attract non-Civ players for the flock while lightly trying to hold the previous fanatics.

Sometimes trying to make a broader public works, like what Mass Effect did for RPGs. Sometimes it does not go well and end up dumbed down, like on SimCity Societies. Civ V isn't dumbed down like Societies but I think it lacks the same deep of previous titles.

On a good side, Civilization is one an ageless games so if you loved Civ IV (or any of the previous editions) you can simply keep playing it. Also, vanilla Civ IV wasn't that great too so who knows what can happen on the upcoming expansions?