IMO to sum it up. Your major problems seem to be with the way your setting up the game and researching techs. If the AI has way more def.. its because they researched armor techs and you didn't. If the map is too big.. play on a smaller map, if there's no creatures to kill pump up the map difficulty , if you want to explore more ruins work on adventure tech etc.

I will agree the game has issues overall holding my interest.. but I can't really agree on your reasons.

It sounds to me like the gameplay is not going in the direction you expect it to and your floundering in the learning curve of how to get what you want out of the tech trees.

I am not saying the game is without flaws.

try researching warfare equipment line for weapons and armour then branch out into group tech. Learn equipment first, then some other tech type (diplomacy civics adventure or magic depending on what kind of game you want to play - meaning magic heavy or conquest heavy, it is sandbox play after all you need a goal to set for yourself)

then go back to warfare - learn warfare tech, then something else. keep following that pattern. get production tech if you find yourself low on material and build the great mill in a town with at least 4 workshops in it.

search around find some metal and then go on a rampage and kill kill kill. spawn some monsters through adventure tech if you get bored. spawn goodie and quest huts to give your heroes something to do - the quests can give you great opportunities to strengthen your heroes.

Try playing a smaller map and up the speed of the game. That might give you the balance that you are looking for. On another note, I was consitently playing medium map, max players, custom charisma sov, ridiculous across the board, and had winning nailed down. I just started a new game on a large map with a slow tech speed and am finding it more challenging. Waiting to research the first level of Warfare for spears and padded armor while monsters spawn all over the place made it a hectic and dangerous early game. I'm nearing mid-game and am at war with both Altar and Kraxis - I'm having to apply myself which is refreshing. The large map leaves more room for monster spawns outside ZOC's and such.

Anyway, try messing with the settings. You might be surprised.

Lower difficulty a setting if not already done so. Consider being agressive early game and eliminating an enemy faction or two to gobble up their starting capital locations. First thing researched should be equipment in Warfare tree. Gear your sov and Janusk, design a unit with oak spear and padded cuirass. Spam those units, make a stack, and go to war. If you take one or two enemy capitals you should be competitive through rest of game.

Are you playing as empire or as the other general mob.  Empire depends more on summoning, portals and single powerful units and expensive units.  I find their general units weaker than the other branch (whose name I forgot).  I had similar problems as you when playign emprie and I had to stop researching warfare and go more towards the adventure/lore and oder allies that were expensive but very powerful.

While this is a good idea in moderation, over expanding too early also would have consequences as they put in that prestige negative for # of cities. Slowing their growth in population across the board.

You got that right.

I have just recently WON! my first game. It took me like 6-8 games before i won on NOVICE, I just created my own sov and king stacked up the stats and researched civ/military defense armor is the best thing in the game. if you get armor made up you can kill anything you want with just your sov.

After finishing my first game on Large, Epic, Challenging (I'm a wuss, I know), (also note I was using the common mods like enhanced spells, artifacts, creatures, quests, etc.) I found several interesting things:

1.  In game setup I had set up 7 opponents, all on Challenging.  I encountered only two of those opponents on the map.  The first was Tarth (predictably) with 5 cities, and a moderate amount of tough stacked units.  The second was Irena or somesuch, with a 1 square city, and several progeny.  The city had never been built out.  Of the other 5, nothing was ever seen.  My guess, given that I had run into damaged monster stacks, is that roaming monsters had nommed the AI opponents, who may have been in the 1 city no resources trap as has been noted earlier.  By the time I encountered Tarth 400+ turns in, I had figured out the goldmaking technique, and I was experimenting with tech and arcane research, and hopelessly outclassed him.  I was limited only by the amount of gold I could use to equip my plethora of heroes.  In short, AI was pretty helpless against even itself.

2.  Speed is fun.  Moving 2 squares is seriously dull, less fun to travel through a forest.

3.  Mana.  I'm torn on the one hand as to how slow mana is to get, but on the other hand the point is not to have armies of platemages.

4.  Food is currency.  Got this one off the forums, very good tip.

5.  Brown world.  While it is realistic by storyline, I suppose, it does feel dead.  I thought of an interesting solution though, and one that would turn the tables on the wily player:

This game has a list of terraforming spells such as I have not seen since populous.  If the point of the channeler sovereign is to bring the world back into balance, why not have that world still be actively shaped and devastated using random terraforming effects on unclaimed territory?  That your sovereign's influence by casting a "stability" spell on a newly founded city will cause it's influence to calm the land.  You could use a resource gained through questing or somesuch to do so.  This may also be a mechanism to generate new resources, etc.

6.  Equipment.  With all the talk of gold being the only resource needed to secure hero equipment, I do agree that once you hit metal armor/weapons it should cost resources.

7.  So many heroes...   In this game, I had a huge number of heroes.  Once they were equipped, the only variation was in what stats I put points this level.  I didn't really care what special abilities they had, and they were pretty much disposable.  AoW pretty much spoiled me on hero customization and abilities.

8.  Resources.  Very thin on the ground compared to other games in the genre.  While it was nice not to have to have an army of workers terraforming every tile, I pretty much dispensed with the strategic locating of cities and spammed as many as I could at proper distances.  When a resource was available, especially food, I would found a city, but otherwise each little 5 person settlement was valuable for its cumulative 30% trade bonus.

In conclusion, I like where this game is headed, but like good stew it needs some serious spicing and better gravy to hold it together.

In 16 years of gaming Elemental is the only one I've considered gettingmy money back on. The Anaemic sound effects and lack of, well, fun (that one generally expects in a game) being foremost amongst my gripes. Seriously, just copy Master of Magic next time guys. Damn, I was so looking forward to the release of this game as well.

Your second city should focus on maximizing tech production. Tech should focus on equipment, early on, if you want military, or it should focus on boosting economy through houses and buildings that give bonuses to gold production. Prestige bonuses are cool too.

If you want to use Corbeubm's strategy (which is very effective, but requires access to lots of land) then just research trade, and have caravans going to your main city from every city, and you will have way more gold than you could ever need, and each city can rush tech. I personally don't find it too enjoyable to play that way, though.