I'm sure the fanboys will be all over me, but these are my impressions/personal opinions about the game. Take them for what they're worth.
1> I have to say the crashes are getting annoying. I've set the Autosave to every turn just to be able to play the game.
2> Some of the UI stuff is not very intuitive. Took me a trip to this forum to find out how to build a farm.
3> I sure wish we got better, more obvious notification when something is finished building.
4> Would be nice to be able to queue up a build even if you don't have the resources to build it at the time.
5> Maybe I haven't found or researched something I yet, but mana regeneration is WAY DAMN TOO SLOW!!!!! This game is called War of MAGIC. Be nice to actually be able to summon a creature then use magic to defend myself. Mana regen is too slow by at least half.
6> POS manual. It's not even in color fer christ's sake. 'Nuff said.
7> My latest game must have been close to 100 turns and I never saw any NPC resembling a hero. I got a bunch of NPCs that boosted something like farming or Iron Production. Only one had any kind of combat skills (assasin) and they were pretty pathetic (6 atk, 0 def) and I couldn't even upgrade her weapon or lack of armor.
8> I feel like the game is too dependent on whatever tiles you have near your city. You can't build a farm or improve your food unless you happen to have a tile. Past games like this I've played, you could more or less build anything but tiles with stuff gave bonus's Or more precisely, different types of terrain were better than others for different kinds of buildings/improvements.
9> The one thing I DESPISED, HATED, CURSED, RAGED most about MoM is that food didn't accumulate. Damn if Stardock didn't find that one thing and incorporate it into this game. All other resources accumulate. WHY THE FRACK NOT FOOD!!!!! GGRRRRRR!!!!!!
10> I have to admit, I like it that tile bonus's and goodie huts reveal later in the game based on tech research. Avoids the Land Rush of Gal Civ. Good job on that one. But based on the maps I've seen so far, lands suitable for farms in the early game need to be twice as plentiful. The other resources feel about right.
11> Why is it I play games every day without crashing (hours spent on GalCivTotA) but this game demands driver updates. Either this game was written on the bleeding edge of technology (never a good idea) or some blame is being placed where it doesn't belong. I'm just sayin'.
12> Graphics are nice.
13> Tactical combat is nice except for the mana shortage. There has to be a better way to give your champions (such as they are) spellcasting ability besides splitting your already underwhelming mana supply. Here's a brilliant idea... why not have champions that are already channelers. After all, this is War of MAGIC!
14> Crashes!! I know the crashes will eventually be fixed. But they are frustrating. Thanks for letting me vent.
