WIshlist / small refinements to SF:CoEO

[Treebeard]

Firstly, great game!

Coming from the old Heroes of Might and Magic, I see this game as a true spiritual successor and evolution to that series. This game is definitely very well designed and implemented (- better than Songs of Conquest in my opinion).

I'm enjoying it very much and it is a game that I hope will continue to be developed and expanded upon, like Heroes of Might and Magic was (- until unfortunately NWC went bankrupt).

I have some small suggestions after having played this gem of a game for a while.

1. Character creation: When creating the main story Apprentice we currently have the choice of 3 builds and a custom build. I'd like to see this a little bit fleshed out before those selections. So before selecting the occupation of the Apprentice, I'd like to see a character creation page where you can select Species (- Human, Dwarf, Elf, Undead, Orc) and gender (Male or Female). Perhaps a background and trait that would entail a little background story and some sort of bonus and/or negative aspect trait (trait bonus and negative could also be species related). If customizing or selecting a portrait (based on species and gender) would be possible, then that would be an extra bonus. If there is an added personal story baked into the map in the ways of adventures, then that would be an additional bonus. Finally, being able to name your Apprentice would be nice too. Save games can then be using the Character Name instead of the profession.

2. Battle sounds: I'd like to see a little bit more variety in the sounds of selecting a unit and how it sounds when it moves, attacks and perishes. Ghouls sounding like goblins is not so immersive for example. Each species would have their own sounds.

3. Hornets: If possible, I'd like to have Sprites or Fairies to replace hornets (- granted, fairies and sprites are not beasts so perhaps adding them and keeping hornets is fine).

4. Dwarven Racism: I'd like this word to be replaced to say either "Dwarven Kinship" or Dwarven Affinity". "Racism" a bit of an immersion spoiler to me and probably a lot of players.