I'd like a Sim city - Civilisation game.
A city you would develop from Neolithic to modern times, choosing a place in a world map, and then a specific place. Let's say it directly : I want a city builder, and NOT something about war.
You still would build stockades, castles, forts, if you want, but you wouldn't actually control war. You would have news about your kingdom/country and what happens, and depending on the place you chose to build your city, you could be raided, or attacked, but well. Attacks would happen like "without you", like in Dominions. You would see it, and watch your city win, or in fire, or be pillaged, or even worse. Most cities in Europe were conquered and still not destroyed during their very long history. Their architecture, their apparence is caused by their historu. Maybe if you didn't defend correctly your cities raid would happen more often, and eventually destroy it. So you can't play without it, but you wouldn't have to select units clic clic clic send them, clic clic clic build a barrack. It's not this.
I still want a Sim City. Not a Age of Empire or Caesar.
On the other hand science would progress and you would be notified of this, and Society would change too, religion, economy and stuff. The key thing is that most City builder today are building US cities. But european (or asian) cities are full of their history. You can't build a modern Rome with a city builder.
So, I'd like that, after some time, your economy could maybe collapse or change (because trade routes change, or because your copper isn't useful anymore when iron becomes dominant, or maybe you are now on a frontier, or maybe now the sea isn't safe anymore ?) and you can't afford to have such a big temple, or maybe a castle isn't useful anymore now. So after time, they become ruins because you have to make choices with the money you have left. And destroying ruins is very costly so why bother ? I'd really like a Sim city where time passed is obvious, where there are old things because times change. And maybe after a time you will rebuild, scavenging old stones.
And maybe when you finally discover "historical preservation" you will rediscover old temples, old tombs, old palace, when building your new airport and then build a museum to attact tourism. Maybe your civilisation was flourishing and invented democracy, or maybe you had a golden age when you were a city-state for 500 years, and protected art during all these years. Or maybe you are a big industrial city, after all.
Add to this random generation of cultures, of religions, of neighbours, and of dynamic relationships between territories off-screen and that's really what i would like.