There are reasons why games without rushes have an appeal in that the battles are bigger and the troops more varied but to develop without the risk of a rush defeats the purpose imo.
In my driving sims I do like to win each race but it makes the championship so boring. No Rush games seem to be an attempt at a championship battle without having to fight in the earlier races.
I feel that Large Islands maps in earlier AoE versions were a better way of preventing rushes. I don't like the 'No Rush by agreement' approach, but where the map is a constraint it's more acceptable.
I enjoy games where I have to struggle for 40-60 minutes as well as the 15-20 minute sprints but I'd prefer to have to surmount an obstacle before the fighting begins rather than agree not to fight first, such as building a dock, scouting the seas and not being able to see the opponents score or current age before conflict begins (or indeed at all before the postgame).
No Rush games are like agreeing not to play the King's Gambit in chess. If you want to play a more strategic game instead of a more tactical one it should be determined by the chosen map not by starting a war by agreeing to peace.