Ye both are correct and have good points.
I know this, because I feel the same way.
It is tremendous fun to scratch out a viable realm by conquest. That fun fades as the strength builds, and once stable, there comes a point when nothing on the map can threaten my realm.
On the other hand, I also find tremendous fun in throwing Berserkers and Gothic Cavalry at a foe and watching the brown and/or yellow stains form in their trousers before we chase their fleeing remnants across the field. (To be brutally honest, I rarely use those two units- Noble Cavalry and Vikings work just as well and are easier to retrain).
I also get pissed off when attacked and hold a grudge.
This is why whenever I start a campaign, I end up conquering the map every godsdamned time. Once it took eighty turns before the fools in Seleucia- the last unconquered province, felt themselves strong enough for suicide and attacked my city of Susa.
However, if the sole remaining factions are mine and my protectorate, I count that as a complete conquest as well. Once I had three protectorates. There is a picture floating about somewhere about it.
[This message has been edited by Terikel Grayhair (edited 04-16-2015 @ 12:19 PM).]