Great to hear what everyone is up to and how that breaks down!
My feedback on the UI:
1) Modular & configurable. Let me make, say, the chat window disappear if I want, as well as anything else. Since there should be hotkeys for everything, let us turn every (or any) UI element off and keep the game playable like that.
2) Have the portraits along the SIDE of the screen (or at least have the option to do so). Having EVERYTHING all on the bottom seems too wasteful, and makes the screen seem squished -- too wide and squat, especially given that most people have widescreen monitors these days, unlike in the days of the IE games. More stuff along the SIDES -- and maybe allow the user to switch which side it's on?
3) Eliminate needless fillers, like the statues in the corners (unless those serve a game purpose?), and try to keep all buttons to one row along the bottom.
4) The aesthetic style looks great.
5) Minimal, minimal, minimal. We want to see as much environment & action as possible, as constantly as possible.
6) More updates!! Thanks!
