I think one problem is that several quests make you kill people who sell skill books.
Yep, that's kinda obnoxious. Especially since you need to do ALL the quests to gain enough experience to take on tough enemies and reach areas and secrets which have enough treasure to let you consider buying skillbooks in the first place.
The games does not have to liitle combat. A problem is that you can easily get into a hard fight when you have only your starting skills, almost no equipment and no money to buy skills or items.
Right now, weapons and armor sell for ridiculously small amounts, which is silly since they should sell for a lot of money in the prison economy. I killed a boss and took two powerful unique daggers off his body. They sell for only 4 gold. The most valuable weapon I've found from a random drop is an Elven bow which sells for 18 gold.
