This is just my take on this and you might see it differently, but here goes: 

Endless Legend is a combat game where sometimes you build things. 

Civilization is a building game where sometimes you have combat. 

I think it is absolutely critical that Humankind not just be a fancy 'conquer the map' game.   The combat should be important sure.... but not the most important thing. 

What gives Civ the crazy 'one more turn' appeal is not when your army is about to fight another army.   It's when in the next turn you...... build a library, found a new city, pick a new research project, setup a trade with one of your neighbors.    The core of Civilization is about building a Civilization.    The fighting is almost incidental.  

Do you think Amplitude is going to get this?    Are they hardcore Civ fans?   Or will this be just another 'conquer the map' game?  

yeah bro exactly i wish we would see this attitude for endless franchise too

While I love a good strategic battle, I'm not sure if there is room in a grand campaign game.  I've liked them in the Total War series (though hit or miss on liking those games in general), but otherwise I usually want a fast resolution to continue on with that main campaign.  That's part of why I've enjoyed ES games so much.  The gameplay is more about what you bring to the fight than the fight itself.

agree , also prefer that the sense to build such games, is not to conquer that damn map ...
but could you develop your civilisation to a higher standard so that your PEOPLE will live like in Heaven !

All that last games I played, like

Stellaris
Age of Wonder:Planetfall
Warhammer: Gladius
Pandorra
Any Total War
any of that last three Rome themed games

even CIV VI , as when you start to beeing bored you conquer all of them, so it is faster over :-)

have been Battlegames nothing else and have been boring , when Mid Game starts and End game is already terrible ...
so there the pops are only resources nothing more ...

I really would prefer to see the first game, where the POPs are the main reason why you play such game and that you have to use all resources to achieve the highest standard as possible ... not how many areas you have conquered ...

but if I am true, I haven't seen that in any Amplitude Game either ?
But who knows . what future will show us

Ampli has been willing to push back on "just take the whole map" paradigms thus far. In the Endless games it only really happened once you had already won the game and just didn't feel like clicking through 50 more turns, at least in my experience.

From the livestream it seems this is the reason they have come up with a 'fame victory' which means you can still win the game even if lot's of your land is conquered, if you have done lots of 'Fame' actions in earlier era's. For example in Civ if somone builds a wonder and then you conquer it. You get all the bonuses fromt he wonder, including the increase too your score. With Humankind's fame victory, the builder of the wonder gets the fame points. Even if that city is then conquered the original builder of the wonder keeps their fame for building it.

Also noting that one of the natual wonders in the screenshots increases a cities 'Stability'. This would suggest that stabiltiy and instability are concepts in the game, which could lead to large empires fragmenting. So you could conquer lots of land in one era and then when you change civilization into the next era this could effect your stability causing your empire to break up, but this is pure speculation