I agree about the academy, as I proposed that some times ago.
You don't want to educate players, you want to hook them. So they think: what is next, from the minute they put their hands on the game. Like Civilisation in a strategic way.
Introduction and conclusion are always the most important parts of anything.
Introduction for hooking, conclusion for remembering.
You are missing the introduction to your game.
Cyseal is boring. Nothing happens in the damn city. There is nothing to do beside "looking for clues". I didn't buy an inquiry game, I bought an open world old school rpg. Not a random rat invasion, not a random single orc attack, not a single world interaction skill...
The player should always be waiting for something either to happen, either to come to completion, either to have the choice to do, either to invest into, that will increase its power.
No respawn = nothing to do once mobs are dead.
No random spawns = absolutely no surprises whatsoever.
Blend character development = only wait is for a level to come to completion, and then, distribute points in the most unrealistic way possible.
Bad introduction = frustration: "I am supposed to be a source hunter, not an underequipped and underskilled beggar".
