With the reports that ETW owners can expect NTW to add Napoleonic units to ETW along with other things like no more clone armies. I find myself more excited about what ETW will become in 2010 rather than NTW. I know the creators at CA have even pointed this out about American game players prefering the sandbox format.
This I agree with, I don't want to play a scripted Napoleon campaign that only focuses on Europe. I would prefer building up a huge British or French Empire, maybe with a more detailed European map but why rid the game of the rest of the world, that seems like a step backwards, so I am stoked that it will not matter since I can continue on in ETW time wise into the 19th century. It strikes me as strange that the best feature of a "stand alone" will be what it does for another "stand alone" game?