Perhaps it would be easier to do "ghostly" forms of the various monsters like they did with the wolf form for the "summon familiar" spell...

I strongly advocate extending all the magical abilities (Air Disciple, etc) that a sovereign/champion can take on leveling to grant at least one more spell.

Some powerful new unit enchantments would be good, something that I keep missing are a class of unit enchantments that grant benefits/penalties to adjacent allies/foes. For example, "Cloak of Ethers" - all adjacent allies gain the benefits of all friendly enchantments on this unit (this would obviously not allow for chained "cloak" effects). Likewise, "Cloak of Entropy" - all adjacent foes lose 1 to their defense every turn that they are adjacent to enchanted unit.

Additionally I would love to see some truly powerful cross-over magical spells, similar to the spells gained for having Air 2 and Life 2, or Air 2 and Water 2 magic; but instead at level 4.

As someone who has no idea what "Elemental" is but is fascinated by just the title "Fallen Enchantress", I say go with that.

I have never tried a magic based game before, but based on my recent discovery and enjoyment of GalCiv2, I am very interested in this.  I am going to have to get one of my family members who is into DnD and such to coach me on spells. 

Things that are needed before beta 5 lock:

• An item vault like Master of Magic - I have an empire, why do I have to CARRY all my stuff?
• A scrying spell for distant locations. Also fix Eyes of the Eagle while you're at it.
• I want to see Champions suffer horrible spine breaking injuries. Then divine healing life spells to heal them or necromancy spells to twist them.
• We need random events to spawn quests. Like those adventurers waking up dragons you once talked about. 
• Quests: Quantity over quality. You should take just about any quest idea and make it into a short quest. A lot of quests gives the world more depth and story.
• We need more quests and random events that spawn or give Champions.
• There should be city wall tiles for tactical battles giving a slight advantage to the defender.
• Make assassins more single-target lethal and multiple target weak.
• "(Element)-Walk" spell for high level magic schools. Use 2 movement to move through normally impassable terrain.
• Spells that interact with forest, swamp, desert to make them more favorable for settlements.
• Spells that interact with forest, swamp, desert on the tactical map to make them more advantageous. In Example a "Tangle" spell that only works in forests and holds enemies. A "Parched" spell that lowers all enemy movement to 1 on a desert tactical map. 
• Magical weapons of a type should not be available unless you have the ability to build mundane weapons of that type. For example no magical axes when you can't make a normal axe.
• There should be more global enchantments. Expensive spells that make it harder to cast spells of an opposing type all across the game. A life enchantment that gives a univesal boost to grain. A death enchantment that universally reduces grain and increases essence (Great for Magnar). A universal spell that makes forests randomly spawn forest monsters, caverns produce air monsters, mountains produce earth monsters, deserts produce fire monsters, etc. These monsters should be friendly to the one casting the spell.

1. More summons

2. More globals

3. More counter spells and spells that work against specific elements.  This is a often stated remark for a game called elemental (or at least currently...) there is precious little use of them beyond a few multi color spell (good) and shards.

I'm like where the game is heading and for the name I would go with Fallen Enchantress... While I like Elemental: Fallen Enchantress better it may bring with it the bagage of WoM, and that would be a pity, since even now FE is a much better game.

One thing I would like to see is actually something that only comes in to play very late game: Once you've researched all techs and you only have the repeatable techs left (I haven't actually played the latest beta to the point where this happens, but I'm assuming it's still the same) I would like the game to just keep repeating the same tech without asking for my intervention. A notification in the side bar is enough, since the tech popup kind of breaks the flow of the game.

Brad another thing you really need to do is train the AI to use spells like pillar of fire and tremor, they never use these. The other thing is to reprice the mana costs for spells as many are way too expensive and are very underwhelming - incinerate city is a prime example

I'm glad that content is being emphasized, and I love the development from b3 to b4. But going onto b5 and release it is imperative that engine issues get resolved. Game hangs are fortunately rare, but sometimes combat inexplicably slows down, and I've not had good experiences with loading save games while in-game. In fact it's bad enough that I simply quit and re-start Fallen Enchantress to have a somewhat reliable game.

More summoning.

Several others have mentioned this above; I wholeheartedly agree.

A hero can level up in summoning, but that does little good when the hero only has one or two summons.

I would love to focus on the magic tree to the point where conventional troops can be ignored in favor of summoned creatures and spells.

First of all, thank you, Gents (in the non-specific gender usage), for your work on this game--may history praise your efforts!  Perhaps 20 years from now, a game designer will call their game "the spiritual successor of Fallen Enchantress."  

(1) We know how critical people can be of a game with potential that falls short (I keenly remember the disappointment), so the more you can keep Elemental: WOM in the past, the better (except the hard-learned lessons, of course).  A name is so simple, yet carries so much weight/prejudice.

(2) My compliments--such a nice looking site.  Makes me really want to play that game. 

(3) Many of Sean's suggestion have merit.  In the most general of terms, there should exist a wider range of useful spells (even if for certain situations only--as long as they are well explained and seem cost-effective, then they will be a wonderful addition).  And hey, Brad, how fun will it be to update certain AI opponents to intelligently use some of them (even to the level of signature tricks that must be understood and countered)? 

(4) Surely more quests can be added over time to reinforce the sandbox nature of the game--I love playing the game for the 10th time and seeing content I've not seen before.  More wildland areas that are treated like major quests cannot be a bad thing, either, where the random generator can pick a certain amount of non-required areas per map size from a long list, further adding to the unique feel of a particular play-through (tricky balancing, but would pay huge dividends).  

Caveat: All quests must be properly explained, and the fun surprises be carefully balanced as not to wipe out a player's game.  You want a challenge without resorting to blindsiding the gamer--let them know in no uncertain terms the can of giant worms they are about to open (and please kill that design flaw where if they want to come back to a quest later they cannot because it's gone).  Think of it like storytelling, where the best suspense, the best action, is seen coming like an inevitable tidal wave (or at least cleverly alluded to, in the mildest form of foreshadowing).

In general, I believe an increasing feeling of epic with each quest difficulty level is a guiding ideal, with the later difficulties including mechanics like multiple waves of enemies (properly introduced, not just thrown in like an afterthought), more meaningful choices (like the defend/attack a certain faction) that perhaps even reverberate within the game at large (a large ripple might cause a severe reputation drop from someone, even inciting a war--that kind of tying in, if balanced, is a great example of that epic feel).  Ever considered a quest choice can trigger one of your "random" events?  A wealth of possibilities.

(5) See above quest section.  I feel most random events are poor substitutes to triggered events based on questing/actions.  Randomness often triggers that unfair/blindside mentality that so many people despise.  Consider this: you can add much semi-randomness without that feeling if the gamer knows that "because you did <this> then <this> begins to happen."  The random application of triggers would scratch this particular itch.  For instance, going on a clear killing rampage (razing more than 2 cities, perhaps) might in one play-through do nothing, yet in another it triggers the wrath of an old god who counters the move by sending his minions against the offender's capital city--you can start this triggered event well away from the city, with a portent as a clear warning (essential to a good design, IMO, so as to avoid the nasty blindside).

Another example off the top of my head: when completing the first building required for the Spell of Making, a lingering elemental force (like a pocket of trapped gas) sometimes explodes, and unruly elementals (perhaps antagonized by the shift in power) attempt to destroy the cause (would target the city that building is constructed in).  

Even a purely random trigger (like the blood moon that triggers a monster increase in wildlands areas) can be properly noted a warned-against (heh, we've been building plenty of cleric housing and such, so make those chumps useful).

(6) It would be dreamy if you could have several different strategies (with different strengths/weaknesses) for each major AI house.  This way players aren't always sure what they're going to get with a particular opponent--perhaps a % chance one opponent might "borrow" strategy from another opponent, just as you would borrow strategy from the cleverest of beta testers (which does not include me, since my success is largely from taking advantage of the weaker opponents to make my steamrolling inevitable, heh, though this in itself could be an interesting strat--for one AI to "exploit" another to gain an edge).  For example, one game, the Master Scout races will take advantage of their trait to over-expand (leaving them far more vulnerable to early military action, which would perhaps make them change their tactics to turtle in their first 3+ cities before regrouping and lashing out again); another time, this same race could use their trait to quickly grab resources, and then spend their efforts protecting/growing those resources until war is declared on them.  Sometimes a tactic might include aggressive actions, and sometimes more cautious actions, like only going to war when using an alliance.

(8) I contend good modding should be difficult to do correctly only because the core game is so beefy and polished.  The whole modding-as-bug-fixes done in so many games these days leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

(12) While my time is limited, if you need another leak-proof editor to give fresh perspectives, count on me (though I imagine Dave comes with his own resources).

Label me as a fan with balanced expectations.  

Additions:

*I'm guessing many testers will dislike my suggestion of a more extensive and flexible tech tree, but allow me to make one last case for it.  When techs become too concise, they seem linear--currently, it's simple to follow the path of least resistance (lowest cost tech) and get everything you need for a fairly optimized victory.  More options that seem somewhat exclusive of each other lend a flexibility that isn't obtained in any other way.  You can play different leaders with different traits on different maps, yet you tend to follow the same tech path.  This is like leaving potential on the table, IMO.  In general, players should be able to dive "into" a certain line of research at the cost of other things.  The less repeatable your tech path has to be, the better (so long as there is no fluff/worthless techs simple to bump up the count).

*I strongly feel each possible ending should be more epic, more sweet, giving a level of satisfaction that makes the gamer sit back, savor, and almost be sad it's over (solved, of course, by beginning anew).  4x games have traditionally spent next-to-nothing on the endings, but I ask you this: if the length (time investment) of a game is so huge, shouldn't the ending match to prevent the anti-climatic feeling?  An otherwise great novel with a hurried/cheap/unemotional ending can ruin the entire experience.  Rather than make a dig against Fallen Enchantress, I want to define why it's so important to elevate the gaming experience upon finishing the game.  Some might claim the ending isn't important, but would they really dislike or ignore a powerful conclusion to their experience?  I cannot image that being true.

Shards and spells: Shards need to improve spells by a much greater degree. The spells that do currently exist are a good range of different spells. However, most spells hardly gain any bonus from having a shard. In fact, aside from the increased mana income, they are otherwise nearly useless.

Make the effects of shards much more important by greatly increasing the boost that a shard provides to spells. For example, the courage and heal spells. Neither of these spells are useful as the game progresses. However, if you were to have a life shard or two, they should be much more powerful. A heal spell should be able to heal 12 + 10 dmg per shard, for example, instead of only +2 dmg per shard. The courage spell only gives a +1 bonus to spell resistance. This should be much greater at +5 per shard or so.

If nobody is using a spell (such as courage), either you need to delete it from the game or make it useful through shard bonuses, etc.

We aren't getting FE from Gamestop I think. I think we are getting it free straight from Stardock (well those of us getting it for free)

You know, it occurred to me that if the AI starts learning to broadly use strategic spells, we're going to need a new class of strategic counters.

For example, if the AI learns to make regular use of something like Pillar of Flame, there needs to be an answer for that...a way to strategically anticipate and counter it, for a cost. Otherwise it won't be much fun watching helplessly as your army is burned down by pillar of flame, with nothing you can do about it (aside from casting some sort of protection on each unit individually, which would be really micromanagey and would suck to have to do for a short term need. I just got a pang of sympathy for the current AI, that has to put up with that from the player.

So for example, you would need stuff like...

• A general Army Ward spell--The army is protected  from the next spell (or gains +100 spell resistance), until the next turn
• Elemental Ward--Army gains 50 % (elemental type) resistance against strategic spells for 3 turns.
• Absorption shield--magical damage against the army converted into mana until the next turn

So you see, it's a gamble. You strategically wager mana beforehand to try and anticipate an attack, with no guarantee it will be well spent. It also helps to know the sorts of spells your enemy uses.

And finally, if your opponent is capable of damaging your entire army on the strategic map, then there should also be some sort of strategic map army heal, as well.