Patrunjelu;
Stats, descriptions and quests are at the heart of RPGs.
Wibble;
The change in the control system was to accommodate human and dragon movement / combat in as similar a manner as possible. While I'm sure Larian would like to reach a broader audience than DD, I doubt any of the design decisions were motivated by the desire to dumb it down to the lowest common denominator.
I don't think you have played enough to be able to claim D2:ED is completely unrelated to DD, though you are certainly entitled to your opinion. The plot of DD, novella, BD, D2:ED backstory and game are all connected. I can not comment on the design or feel of D2:ED, but there was also some similar negative reaction to BD, much of it IMO simply due to people adverse to change, and not giving BD a chance (personally there were a lot of aspects I preferred in DD and some things were better in BD).
Going human only for NPCs does seem strange, though. Perhaps there will be addons to open up new (or old) locations, where there are elves and dwarves, etc.
The D2:ED quest system has a lot more depth than DD, though I have not played it yet, so can not comment on whether it starts off interesting or not.
I like the 2 soundtracks listed on the D2:ED website, at least (I also still listen to the DD music, which I burned to 2 CDs, and have the BD soundtrack CD from the fanpack).
Welcome to the forum.
