**** Red Alert.
You should be demoted to a World Cup Mod for that blasphemy.
I just disagree with what the sneak peek guy said. And if I wanted to do inane quests against AI, I may as well play Farmville (as was noted). I've always preferred PvP in all games.
Yup, that seems to be the biggest problem with the game. The first lot of quests are mandatory and they're basically a tutorial for newbs, and while they all take around 5-15 minutes each they are rather dull and I can see why it would bore AoE veterans.
My city has only just reached Age 3 (out of 5) and I now have access to skirmishes against the AI, which I enjoy because I suck at PVP. PVP was unlocked midway through Age 2, and I'm yet to try it but I would imagine it's possible to just do that to level up instead of having to do the [del]campaign[/del] quests.