I really wish more waiting wasn't the only option, but I feel your probably right josh. All I can say is for the sake of  the game I really hope it doesnt go out in this state of balance. I believe in the product,and as I said the additions are great but another failure wont bode well for the future of elemental.

I've only played about an hour of the .76 Bets, and I kinda agree.

However, (and I don't know if you were in the 1st beta round), what you're seeing is a reaction to the criticism of the 1st Beta (.75).  The champions ramped up so fast that they overpowered everything and kinda steamrolled if you played on normal difficulty.  Now that game really moved quickly, which I enjoyed, but then you ran out of challenges in the early game.

I think you'll find that Brad & Derek will keep tweaking in response to our feedback.  Brad has already said it's going to take several months to get game into final shape and he's in no rush to release.  If you don't want to play this version looking for bugs, please join in at the next Beta release (in 2 weeks I think) and give them your feedback again.

I am getting some great gameplay, but I am an expert on the game. I think XP progression has caused people to need better armies to fight creatures. I like to have lots of archers to give me some good damage. It's a good tech to prioritize. If you feel you are just sitting in your castle while waiting for better techs, I suggest exploring. Right now you don't need a single unit in your capitol most of the time. Just go out there and try to sneak around creatures so you can get some intelligence on the map. I am always out there looking for goodie huts and quests. 

But if you just need time to learn some better strategies, play as Verga. He is very good. 

also remove Derek as lead designer, with this he's shown that he doesn't have the creativity to create new game designs that are revolutionary.

We'll get right on that...

Thats a bit harsh. I mean i dont know if Derek or who designed the new features like quests and heroes systems but there are alot of good stuff in here. The only issue I see is balance, a change of some numbers and FE will become much more fun I think. 

It is broken right now, it will be working when the game is fully playable on all difficulty levels (not just normal as has been suggested) and with all factions not just Verga and without having to research a very specific path through the tech tree.

These are all work arounds for a broken system. Beta testing isnt just about finding bugs its also about making sure a gameplay is fun and truely balanced.To be clear, Mastering a broken system does not make it a working system. All Factions and Research trees must absolutely be viable, there cannot be one sole way through the game.

Mostly I tested on easy modes because they have to work too, and its been my experience in betas people often wont test anything below normal due to ego issues ("I wont be caught dead playing on easy!", so someone has to suck it up and do it and make sure its working.

PLEASE, please... do not feed the trolls. In my personal experience, it's best to ignore them.

I find it odd that Easy is paced more slowly than Normal, with units apparently taking longer to build and longer to build up levels. Why is that? I have only played Normal so far, so I haven't experienced this...

I couldn't help but laugh at this too. The whole reason Derek was hired because he DID create a game that a massive following of people loved. I sincerly doubt flaws in the game design, or your lack of entertainment revolve soley around his creatify (or lack thereof as you put it). I actually didn't notice any difference in the difficulty, but perhaps that is a sign that the tarthian bow is broken ^^;

The technology pace seems a bit better now - there is still the rediculousness of maxxing the civ tree taking considerably longer than both of the other two - but there is progress.

Can't say i was bowled over by fall from heaven, i thought John Schaffer did more important and fun changes to the core gameplay of civ in civ 5. Not sure what he's doing at stardock presently but i'm pretty sure he would agree with my opinions on what needs to be done with the game.

I don't understand the point that started this thread.  

Boring?  

FE is a lot of fun now.  It's also not finished.   It will be even better before it is done.    I have a lot of faith in SD.

I respect the right of other people to their opinions but I do not agree at all with the boring comment.

 i think you're doing stardock a diservice by letting them off that easy James. It was very much the same thing with war of magic, hordes of people coming to the forums stating how great the game was, blinding the developers and setting them up for a huge surprise when reality hit. i'm the kind of hardcore gamer they should be listening to, i represent by far the biggest market for this, people who have played loads of strategy games before who wants something new and interesting. if stardock can't do anything other than take watered down elements from different strategy games and combine them, then it's not going to be a hit with my people. the different elements needs to be significantly improved upon or be significantly different compared to what has come before, like x-com, jagged alliance 2 and the heroes of might and magic series when it comes to tactical battles.

He does have a bit of a point, fanboyism is never good for a game, The devs cant make anything the best it can be with fanboys spamming forums going on about how "perfect" everything is. Many a dev has been caught so off guard when their game gets trashed in reviews and by mainstream audiences meanwhile fanboys kept saying everything is perfect.

If one truly wants to ensure a successful product they should put aside their own self importance and fanboyism and let people criticize. Perhaps hardcore types love the slow, boring pacing, but most people at large wont which means good luck selling the game like that.

In the end consider we all get the game for free, so if it doesn't sell stardock is screwed since they cant rely on hardcore players purchasing it to recoup costs.