I'm not ever sure what I just read.  Although, I have this strange feeling that I would agree with point one, if I was at all sure what you were saying.

And for getting your but kicked, the game gives you pretty good information on what you are getting into, althogh I have to agree that some of the quest are not balanced well.  But, your Sov can be killed by monsters and just loses turns, no real punishment.  

Netbook?  No.

Well, in the absolute very begging of the game, if you made a custom sov, or picked one that doesn't have either strong magic or super strength, then you might run into some hard battles and get killed a lot in the start.  But usually, just going from pile to pile of unguarded treasure and picking up a champion or two, and even making a few spearweilding armies, can make the early game a cakewalk and help you advance.

0.75 was the version I downloaded last week at Stardock's invitation for feedback.

If in the last three weeks they have: 1. Fixed excess control failure; 2. Made custom games an interesting, playable option; 3. Balanced quests so that random ones match the capability of new civilizations; 4. Made early magic useful in a fight; 5. Reduced the crashes substantially; and 6. Came up with a "bones-only" version that can play on netbooks, you have my apologies.

While Elemental:Fallen Enchantress is not as mind-numbingly frustrating as Master of Orion 3, it seems to be heading in that direction. The reason I am requesting a "bones-only" netbook edition is that until this is interesting to play on netbook, it is disposable eye-candy on the big screen. The important part of gameplay for me is not the graphics, because I'm not doing them. I'm sure the animators are really jazzed about their product, and they should be because it's pretty, but right now the replayability is non-existent because the playability is so weak.

Also, these things need to happen:

1. Troops must be upgradeable. Purging highly trained troops because they weren't issued good equipment from the start is bad economics.

2. Small troop units must be able to join into larger troop units.  Large units should be seperable into smaller units. 

3. Archery should be available from day one. The atl-atl, sling, and small bow exist long before there are civilizations and where there is no civilization at all. Go watch "The Gods Must Be Crazy" and then explain how Kalihari Bushmen with no possessions so advanced as a Coke bottle can have archery weapons more advanced than is available from the first in this game.

4. Hero's need to pay cost at their own store, currently it costs more to outfit the king than a company of soldiers...wearing exactly the same thing! The economics on this are just idiotic.  The store prices are ridiculous in that they can easily consume the Gross Domestic Product of the kingdom in which they reside. Armor for heroes should be a byproduct of owning an armory.

Quick question: Can monsters and bandits be exterminated by dropping the land out from under them into the sea?