I am playing BNW, and everyone is still loving handicapped. I just had Elizabeth declare war on me when she was halfway across the continent, with two civs between us, and then begged me for peace a few turns later and threw free stuff at my feet. Denunciations are still completely and totally vague and happen without explanation. Their trading AI is still worthless because 90% of the time it's either "theres nothing you can give us to make this work" or "we can't offer you enough to make this work".