I know in the game that some civs bonuses tie into the starting positions (ex. Gandhi with a resource in the starting area. However it seems to extend beyond that and is starting to influence the civs I play.

I usually get at least 2 barb villages or huts whenever i play any civ, except the aztecs, even when I rush a warrior first turn (this is online, offline I guess i never noticed because the cpu lets you get alot more huts, villages.) This of course limits the gold i get and the free settler comes later. Even though I like the civ bonuses i feel their starting area hinders them.

The Russians get more plains, the Egyptians get more desert (it helps their civs bonuses, but I also noticed that the Romans get more forests tiles. Does anyone else see this? Is there any more starting area differences that you notice? I feel that a great starting surrounding area (like more forest) is alot better bonus than some of the civ specific era bonuses.