If I may rephrase something a Stardock employee once said: "People who can reliably beat the game at the highest difficulty levels are probably using exploits." No offense or criticism meant to any of those players.
Of course, there are varying definitions on what an exploit is, and that is not really the topic at debate here.
There will always be people who believe the game is too easy. Much depends on how you view a particular game, and how you play it. I play the game on difficulties I am comfortable with, which is mostly between Normal and Painful, depending on my mood. I don't believe the game is too easy or too hard, and I'm not bothered by others claiming the game is too easy.
In fact, many times when people express their opinion that the game is too easy, they add one or two "exploits" with which to beat the game, e.g. the AI doesn't value tech enough, or it used to be that one could buy their mining starbases for a pinch (effectively stabbing them to death with money). In very much the same way you could trick a (possibly new) player in a multiplayer game, you can sometimes trick the AI.
Some people say that using exploits is effectively the same as cheating. Others say that "exploit" is a derogatory term for a thought-out angle that took time to find, or comes naturally with a style of play. There's merit to both views on the topic, though I'm not picking sides with either: I know how difficult it is to create a challenging computer opponent that does not cheat, especially in the gigantic problem space the game presents. Developpers have difficulty with developping a good chess engine, and that's on fully dedicated machines.
Stardock could never eliminate all these "exploits", partly because it would mean that they'd have to develop an AI that's smarter than a human, something of which I believe it to currently be impossible.
Summarily, it all depends on your style of play. Play the game as you'd like to, enjoy yourself, and don't take offense when others seem to have an easier time than you. It's the fun factor that counts.
Laissez-faire.
Keep on rocking, bro,
Tarbo
