I would just correct Stabbey and Joebart on the matter of apples and some kind of great experience with the game.
I started playing OS much later then Stabbey, two versions of Beta ago. Or more like one since the beta got updated a few days after i started with the first version of it.
As a matter of fact, i didnt have any idea that Apples were giving poison resistance, before all this Stabbey criticism of the poison cloud arrows started.
He was writing he was dying very quickly, being one-shoted and frustratingly party wiped in one turn - while i was going through those same fights at the time, without those problems, except occasionally loosing one of the team who i would quickly resurrect so he doesnt miss on the XP.
That was at worst.
Myguys would get damaged, but not killed and they were able to walk out of those clouds.
While i always tried to keep the party positions very spread around.
Still, this made me curious and i went looking whats so different about my characters.
And then i saw what effect apples have.
Which was just one part of it - since im almost always using Earth magic and almost always have various parts of equipment that provide some protection from poison or Earth magic types of damage - which poison is.
In the current release, the vendors have too many items with poison resistance through the start. Almost all boots, helmets and those... things you put on the hands are mostly poison resistant.
And thats the whole story of my supposed huge experience with the game.
Plus, of course, JoeBart should remember the Snowhite.
Sounds to me Hiver that you simply stumbled upon the benefits of apples by sheer dumb luck; and not your thoughtful experimentation with the game as you have insinuated in the past. Don't take that to be an insult, it is not meant to be. Were you eating the apples as a way to restore HP mid fight and happened to notice at that time they were giving you a poison resistance benefit?
If that is the case, I don't see how you can expect a new player to stock up on apples to deal with a somewhat difficult fight. The game really doesn't do anything to imply that a skeleton archer might use poison arrows. Nor does it do anything to imply zombie enemies will deal poison damage, splash it around when hit, and be healed from poison.
Because of that, in my first few battles I wiped quite a bit. Early game there is little a player can do to alleviate poison damage/status effects other than resistances. In my playthrough, I could not find a cure poison spell or potion early on. I had a scroll, but a one use scroll is not of much use when you're facing the same dilemma in the next battle.
I further think it is a little strange to have enemies capable of inflicting so many status effects so early in the game. In a level 4-5 fight, I was dealing with freezing, paralysis (shock), fire, poison and knockdown. I'm not saying enemies shouldn't be able to do this. What I'm saying is a player should introduced to these concepts somewhat slowly, and the difficulty can ramp up later in the game when the player has the knowledge and means to deal with multiple status effects from enemies. Pacing is extremely important to not only educate the player, but also to introduce new and exciting game concepts as the player progresses.
I would also like to clarify for you Hiver, I do not think the game should be simple or easy. A complex system adds longevity to a game and allows players a deep and satisfying game. A challenging game gives a player a sense of accomplishment and wonder. But one thing a game should not do is dump so much onto a new player early on that they become overwhelmed. This is especially true for a "normal" difficulty level which is what the vast majority of players will play.
If you want special black ops skeletors coming at your face at level 2, flinging fireballs, poison darts, summoning spiders and ancient dragons, save that for the masochistic difficulty. On a normal setting, allow the player the luxury of experiencing the game and getting lost in a beautiful world.
