I'd say it depends on what you're expecting from 1.1 in the first place.  If you're expecting it to change the game significantly and give you a feeling of "OMG best game ever" then yeah it will be underwhelming.  If on the other and you're expecting it to improve the game a bring it another step closer to "best game ever" then I think (hope?) it will be just that.

For me personally, as long as the AI is significantly improved (doesn't have to be perfect) so it gives me some level of challenge then I will call the patch a success.  Anything, and everything, else is just gravy.

I completely agree with this. As long as the game expands the AI to be a bit more challenging then I will be much happier with the experience. On a secondary note, I think a speed upgrade and some tactical changes would be nice to see, but really I am only hoping to see changes that point the way to that awesome game we all know Elemental will become.

As a modder, I am going to hope I don't have to change too much of my mod.

While I don't completely share his vision of an underwhelming patch, I think we have all felt this way at some point. With all the talk on the forums about 1.1, it is only natural that some people have a subtle fear that the new patch will not do everything one might hope. I know I had the same feeling a week or two ago, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that like all things Elemental is a journey which we, the community, and the devs are undertaking. So far the road has had bumps and we as the community are not at the wheel so our only view of the journey's future is from the devs, whose journey we are tagging along for. This can be a scary proposition from our point of view, but it is always good to know that even if one patch is underwhelming, the devs will still continue the journey.

I like both the change in population management and mana becoming global. They are good changes to game mechanics that will make the game more fun to play.

1.1 is the first step on a journey, not the end product. Ultimately the problem here is with managing expectations.

I expect 1.1 to be better then 1.0.9. I suspect that I won't be disappointed in that expectation.

I'm not expecting much in the way of truly fundamental transformation until the expansion next year.  I wont even be playing it much until then, so as not to burn out until the real fruits of the re-working show up.   I think people looking towards 1.1 as an expansion level transformation to the program might be disappointed. I think people looking towards the 1.1 update as an indicator of the direction they're heading in, and a landmark to compare against what they played on launch day, may be much happier.

I hope not, would be pretty sad to get disappointed twice. 

I was excited about 1.1, but as I read more about what was going into 1.1, my expectations kind of dimmed a little.  Now I expect...more fixes.  I would *like* to see the ATB bar go in, and tac battles come back for multiplayer.  That's all I really want.  That would make a happy 1.1.  Unfortunately, I don't think I'll see that.  I think we'll see global mana, a broken global population setup, lots of apologies, and a speedy 1.1 hotfix to fix archery again.    I am not oft accused of optimism.

My main concern is the AI. A small game change can require big changes to the AI. So  I hope the AI both keeps up with the changes and improves upon its previous versions.

I don't anyone is expecting 1.1 to be the magic bullet.  The first expansion is where I expect the game to get massively better.  I'll settle for making me want to play it with 1.1

AI is definitely a high priority for any strategy game. Personally though, I want that magical/mystical feel before any of the other things even begin to matter for me. The graphic style goes a long way to achieving this, but it won't be until the spells go epic and the UI style is overhauled, that the immersion will be complete. I don't think that the UI is going to be remodelled by the way.

What makes you say that? They've had plenty of time to get this done right.