I like the way the game is going- the beta feels great. here are some thoughts of positives, negatives, and addressing a more vibrant world.

City Building: Feels a lot better- the food requirement + population economy = less city spam with imprtance on having at least one big city.

positives:

food requirement for new cities

population based economy

able to build multiple buidings

level 3 city required for building groups of units

negatives:

still needs balancing- popluation becomes a non-issue once you get a metroplolis or even a level 4 city

spamming studies is not fun- building a few is cool, but like 10 in a city is not.  some mechanic (uberstudies?) making an alternative option for reesearch woul be cool.

city walls: PLEASE MAKE ACtUAL CITY WALLS IN COMBAT RATHER THAN JUST A STAT BOOST

Magic: great improvement with current system:

positives:

the new system. period.  like how once you get temples of essence, greater shards mana production takes off.

suggestions:

just more spells please!

combat spells feel gimped currently. arcane arrow shouldnt be awesome, but blizzard SHOULD be devasating

something like spell points (maybe an area for essence to be back in?)- its cool having multiple spell casters, as well as intelligence affecting spells. However, the amount of channelling a hero could do in battle would make for interesting choices when leveling up. The channeler could get unlimited casting ability, with all others having a 'limited' pool representing their spell-casting connection to the channeler. (ie Procipinee can cast spells all day long, but her hero Adante Fablewind can use a max of 20 per turn.  He levels up, pus a point into 'wisdom' or 'essence' and now can cast 25 per turn)

make children count as channelers in their own right, getting 3+ mana per turn

Combat:

like the way rebalancing is going.  feels a lot better. keep it up!

suggestion: tech descriptions under logistics/etc limit the number of units in a stack (ie only 7, then only 9...).  Please enforce this- a stack of 30 units versus spammed enemy spearmen isnt really fun.  Limited sized stacks would make these techs useful, and provide balance to battles.

Tech tree:

feels good. no suggestings atm

Heroes and Dynasties

feel better as well-

positive:

the stat system is working, heroes are feeling more uber.

suggestions:

PLEASE let abilities be allowed in hero upgrades as well! Ie when my soverign levels up, id like him to get to pick 'crushing blow' for instance

please allow 'governing' ablities to improve with level ups: ie when my merchant levels up, let him pick an option to improve gold by a %

for dynasties, still waiting for system to be fleshed out (assuming not main priority). however, in the meantime please make children all channellers, and please add a 'heir' system were if your character dies, the first in line takes over.  Eventually, have that be influenced through marriage.  If you kill the magnar emperor but married your daughter to his scaly, lizardlike son make the new son automatically your 'ally'.  However, if hes married to a kraxis heir (who you just wiped out), your relations worsen further. Also, if there are no 'male' heirs, the female heir with her married husband take over and become part of the husbands empire (if magnar only has daughers and the eldest is marreid to your son, you get his empire!

Living World- i may make a later post cause i have a lot to say. breaking it down though-

Fall From Heaven did a great job with a world were i felt like I was fighting AGAINST the world in the post-apocalapyse for survival of my people, carving out an empire in the early game.  That would be great if elemental had the same 'early game' feel, because you are doing a similar thing. 

suggestions: the early betas (pre-advenuring) had some estabilished lairs and powerful monsters at the beginning of the game. PLEASE bring back- when you can finally kill off that monster skath that is protecting an amazing city site, or kill the bone oger defending a lair with a powerful sword, you have a sense of accomplishment of having a stable emperor.

-have the environment knock some players off

-buff and increase number of 'minor factions'.  Make them able to grow up their cities, build armies, etc.  Make the main difference being a) they arent channelers and cant build pioneers, have to conquer enemies to expand.  I like the variety of having them, and i like how they had their own stuff to sell with really powerful children for marriage opportunitities.

-keep conquered pops the same, and make more varied.  I cant stress this enough- when playing Master of magic, if my halflings came accross a troll city i got excited to conquer it and add adamantium- wielding war trolls to my armies.  This could be consistent with minor factions (awesome minors or warriors), as well as my Capitarans keeping Trogs for enslaved trog-armies. 

-elementium mines!!!!

Adventuring (tying into above post)- 

the above would cause some changes in the adventuring system.  some things to make it useful/still change:

-have people come to you to offer quests like in the betas, not just at 'inns and so forth'. new techs = more quests randomly offered

-have inn sites to hire champions

-have adventuring techs unlock abilities in champions OR allow champions to pick abilities upon level up

-more equipment for champions (magical).  

-continue to have it reveal goody huts, new resources as you are

diplomacy: just talked  a lot.

ill save for another day.

hope this helps