Too many times, Hiver comes at issues by essentially saying "why aren't players doing this obvious thing that I with a crapton of experience know how to do".
For example, Hiver said that poisoncloud arrows weren't a problem if people just ate apples ahead of time. It's apparently the player's fault if they didn't immediately experiment and eat all the different foodstuffs they could find in Cyseal, and somehow they're supposed to know before time that a specific archer would use poisoncloud arrow on their first turn, so they should know to eat an apple before. His advice may be correct, but it requires knowledge and experience that a first-time player won't have. That's expecting too much of a player.
This has been my issue with my first run through and my concerns with difficulty. I didn't know how a fight would be played out and what abilities enemies would use. Often I would resort to summoning something and hoping it could just soak up all the damage and CC. This of course, led to many reloads trying to deal with individual fights.
This is not an enjoyable experience for a new player. In the example of eating an apple beforehand, there is nothing in the game to indicate this would help in a fight. Why should a new player be expected to associate apple with poison resistance?
I'm not opposed to making a challenging game. I just think a player can be eased into combat a little more gently. Taking a poisoncloud arrow to the face in your second or third fight for half or more of your HP before you can do anything is terrifying.
Cromcrom sometimes tends towards treating the player as a complete dunce and not being able to figure out anything on their own.
Sign-posts giving directions to places (and the pointer on the compass making it clearer which way north is), signs outside of buildings saying what they are, map markers for buildings filling out automatically as you enter, that's just impossible for anyone to figure out or use. Clicking on things which highlight? Too hard. This does not mean I am against the idea of asking NPC's for the locations of things, which mark your map. I am not. That is a good idea. Nothing wrong with it.
Apparently it's expecting too much of players to read the tutorial pop-up mentioning trading, or to see the big red button and click it with this clearly important NPC who has a distinctive design and forces conversation. Apparently Arhu's dialogue has to include a "you can trade with me" option or else no one will ever know you can trade with him. That's expecting too little of a player.
I think your thoughts here Stabbey are spot on. But it is always difficult for developers to find the right balance of hand-holding and independence. I believe the tutorial area can use a little expanding and clarification. I'd have to run through it again to get specifics, but I missed a lot on my first go through, and I'm not particularly new to these sorts of games. If I missed things or didn't understand something, I'm sure many more players will experience the same.
