zultor

Why do you want to? You would be massively overpowered for the mobs you face at that earlier stage. You wouldn't be gaining anything since you can hire leveled companions later so it isn't like you want them to start gaining xp from day 1 or anything. You get a full part pretty quickly in this game.

Criminals give you penalties to security and prestige for as long as they stay. Paying them or escorting them gets rid of them earlier and frees you from the malus. It's all in the UI. Where in the UI? Admittedly I could have missed it but there have been several events where the options didn't make any sense. This is just the one I remembered. In this example nowhere did it say the consequence for the criminal being there (penalties you speak of) nor what effect either option would have. I was just presented with a "there is a criminal in the stronghold" dialog (two sentences if I remember correctly) and two choice which made no sense. Escort him to where? Why would I escort a criminal? It was just bazaar.

Wizards are definitely not underpowered or the hardest class to play. Their versatility alone makes they very easy to play especially since there aren't any restrictions on armor/weapons in this game. Your wizard can where the best armor and use any weapon while at the same time casting spells (not recommended but doable). Their aoe spells are very powerful so if your wizard gets in trouble he can blast/burn/whatever his way through many enemies, sometimes at the expense of his allies but whocares they are instantly revived anyways. The way I use wizzies, probably not the best, is to use my 2 frontline tanks to set a line/engage the enemy then move my wizzie to the side (my customized formation makes him start close to there anyways) and using careful aiming decimate large groups of mobs. If he gets aggro or in trouble he has many defensive spells to get out again. Early in the game things were a little difficult since you don't have a full party or leveled companions but once you get tanks with +engagement and other companions the wizzie owns. If you are specifically limiting yourself by keeping your party size low (or soloing) them the wizard just becomes more indispensable since it can cover the role of other classes (has crowd control, dps, buffs/debuffs, etc).

There are many many ways to cheat ironman systems. You could always just alt-f4 when things went bad, etc. They can't stop everything. If you are going to play with the option on it is up to you not to cheat.

The stronghold definitely is an after thought to the game and IMHO was implemented poorly. I never go there unless required to since there is no benefit. I've upgraded most of it and all it seems to be is a money sink which is irrelvent because I am drowing in money. The economy in this game isn't one of its bright spots. The biggest disappointment with the stronghold is that the events are very poorly detailed to the player. As an example criminals come and you have an option to pay them off or escort them but nowhere does it indicate what either of those options means. Where am I escorting him and why? If I don't pay him off what happens? It could have been a cool addendum to the game but as it is implemented it is just a weak distraction. Facebook game is an apt description.

I think you missed my point and are stuck trying to divine what I like or don't like. Nowhere did I say I liked FOW and to call my point of view biased is silly. My main point is that the turn options, since those are the ones you originally referenced, are assists so that the player can do things more easily. They don't offer the player the ability to do things that they couldn't do without them. Being able to "turn off FOW", which was one of your suggestions, is a huge "easy button" for the game. You would be able to see where all the mobs are, how many there are, what type etc. This would break the balance of the game and thus probably cause the devs to compensate in other ways which would negatively effect the game for people who don't use it. If what you want is to see the "nice scenery" what you could ask for is an ability to turn off the grayed-out FOW but not disable the mechanic. This would allow you to see everything in its prettiest form but still keep the "you can't see changes/mobs" aspect. Of course the negative would be you lose the ability to know where you have been but since it is an option "buyer beware".

I don't like the fact that they use the souls mechanic which is woven into the story early on. I didn't know if they were important or not for awhile and found it annoying to have to talk to each of them and read their longish text to find out that they were irrelevant. I skip em now. I don't mind the concept but the devs shouldn't have made their dialog soul-based. Is there an achievement for killing all of the backers? That would be cool and definitely something I would do even though I usually avoid achievement whoring.

It really isn't that bad having it be a 12 sec duration especially in the early game. Remember that there is so much more to a druid than spiritform. Almost all the way through act 2 I would go into spiritform before contact with enemy and very rarely would I drop out before the battle was over. Later when it was more common place it allows you to actually use other aspects of the class (your weapons, spells, etc). The problem with the current implementation is that in the early game the spiritform is so powerful you focus on it and put your early talents, etc in stuff that helps it. Then about half way through the game you realize that spiritform isn't all that anymore and you are stuck with a gimped character since you hardly use it anymore. This problem has nothing to do with the duration of spiritform but the lack of it progressing in power as a normal character would.

They do already have journal notes in the game. I use those for areas I passed because I thought I wasn't strong enough. Helps me remember where stuff I skipped was. Of course this was all well and good until I realized that you can't delete notes....WTF!

Grey (not total black) for areas you have been but aren't currently able to see is part of many FOW implementations and isn't a bug. It is meant to indicate that you have been in that area as well as show terrain, etc. There are wandering mobs so if they had the "turn off FOW for explored areas" that would affect the difficulty, etc. In fact all of the options you suggest would make the game easier which isn't what options are usually used for. The "21 options" for effecting turns are there to reduce micro-management. What you suggest would allow you to see all mobs on the map, how to sneak around areas in safety, etc which isn't offering an assist to the player but effectively making the game easier (way easier in terms of sneaking, etc).

I personally wouldn't mind if they got rid of night. Have an indicator that it is night if you want but I'm not a fan of the screen being dark. Just makes things hard to see. Small issue but I would turn it off if there was a toggle. Unless night is a game mechanic where people go to sleep and aren't intractable, shops close, vision is impaired requiring torches (which wouldn't work in this game with the pathfinding), etc I don't see the point in it.

I have started to come around to this thinking. My main is a druid and she was awesome early game but slowly has become less and less usable. Since she is my main I can't swap her out. Spiritform should augment (more attack less defense or vice-versa) her gear not completely replace it.

Chanter for being so unique. Song management, etc is cool. Pets are nice although I wish I could make the auto-stops avoid them. Druid (2nd best) is also great but that is because he is overpowered. He is a wizard (good spells) with special forms. With all that said Priest/Cleric (whatever it is called in this game) is the only class I feel is required. Endurance buff is needed.

It seems that there are two different styles of players and that colors your opinion on this issue. On one hand there are players who say "death is all the information I need" and don't mind reloading save games. And on the other hand there are players who see dying something to be avoided at all costs. This is the camp I find myself in. What I don't understand is how players in the former group think a con-style system which informs the players about difficulty is somehow an "easy button" while at the same time think apparently "save scumming" isn't. I see relying on your save games and cavalierly taking on things which you have no chance of killing as the safest form (i.e. boring) of playing...personally. I only reload a save game when the outcome of a battle means my game is compromised (either wipe or mostly wipe). I do everything possible in game to avoid this scenario. That doesn't mean I wait till I am overpowered before I fight a mob but it means I take risk vs reward calculations into account when deciding on whether or not to engage. Maybe I have a too rogue-like mentality but saying "just die and reload" is the ultimate cop-out IMHO. The ideal con-style mechanic would be one that ties into the bestiary and for first time encounters (where there isn't information) gives a general indication of the mobs difficulty.

People need to learn the difference between broken and "preference". There isn't anything on the OP list that indicates the game is broken. Some of them I would like to see change but that is a personal preference. I don't like the "have to be in stealth to detect stuff" but other than that stealth is okay. Not sure I agree that only one guy needs to be in stealth when 5 big burly dude in heavy armor are close by. They kind of give away the stealthy dude.