Well, I can't say there's anything much I like about the game right now. An unexhaustive list of stuff-that-bugs-me, in no particular order:
Graphics: I love [...], but not the execution. That's going to be a recurring theme in this post. In this case, it's the art direction I love. That the models are terribly blocky is perhaps not the most realistic complaint. I do realise there's both technical & monetary limits to what's possible. However, the cloth map would have been much more appealing if it had terrain colours, and the 3D units & placeables are much too similar and difficult to identify/differentiate while playing. I'm hoping Stardock will fix the former and release tools facilitate fan-efforts to fix the latter.
Resources/Production: I didn't think I would, but I actually do like the pooled resources idea. I just don't like the extreme it's been taken to. To please me, resources need to be a tangible part of the gameworld. Stuff that generates resources have to be vulnerable, production have to involve local production chains, and pooling has to involve stuff existing & being moved around physically in the gameworld. It doesn't have to involve micromanagement at all, it just has to feel like
City Building: Physically building stuff on the map is a cool idea, but the execution is such that it has no gameplay significance at all right now. All it does is decrease usability in the 3D view, because the 3D building graphics are difficult to identify/differentiate. I would have loved to build chasm-spanning cities, building cities vertically, or for it to be practical and advantageous to wall off areas of the map by building chains of cities. But perhaps some or all of those things will be possible, eventually.
Interface: This thread lists my complaints & wishes for the interface in more exhaustive detail than I ever could. Man, I hope the devs consider that whole post their next milestone.
Ability/Stat/Combat/Magic Mechanics & Balance: The game mechanics involved in- and the total lack of balance of these things have given me an unshakable faith in three things. One is that no Elemental designer played the game for any amount of time before release. The other is that whomever that or those designers are, nobody in all of time and space could have done a worse job. The third is that if that or those persons continue to work in that capacity on Elemental, it will never be a good game. Here's one thread listing some of the problems and some potential solutions. There are many, many, many such threads. Unsurprisingly.
Dynasties: Yet another "sounds cool, but isn't" feature. Currently they're pointless, but that's just because diplomacy is pointless, which is because the ability/stat/combat/magic mechanics & balance are all messed up. In theory they'd at least have a diplomatic use. The problem - to me - is that it isn't enough. I'd like dynasties to actually be dynasties, with heirs, bastards & so on. Like the rest of my complaints, I'm very far from alone with them, and there are plenty of threads suggesting improvements. Personally I'd like to suggest ripping off some Paradox games.
Unfortunately - as mentioned - these aren't my only complaints.
There is never any reason to Pirate a game. All you are doing is reasoning being a Thief.
Customers are generally given the option to try out goods (clothes included, Polistes) of highly variable/questionable/unpredictable quality before they're asked to pay for it. Why should games be exempt?
If you don't want people to have a perfectly legit excuse for pirating your stuff, release a demo that provides an accurate impression of the gameplay and technical quality of the game. And do it a week or two before the full game's release date.
Not everyone is fortunate enough to live in a country where they have a legal right to a full refund for a minimum of 14 days after the purchase date, nor can everyone afford to buy entertainment that fails to entertain.
