I’m of the same opinion. Back in the day, this would have been a full-price release and it would still have been worth it.
1 – Morale is currently done on an individual basis and the enemy can always regroup, so you don’t get the Total War situation of skipping chasing down survivors. The battle isn’t over until either you or the enemy are all dead, so to speak, meaning that there’s no clear point at which you can say that you’ve won and should therefore be able to retreat without casualties.
– The problem with auto-skip is that you’d have no way of turning it off, since turns are taken based on initiative, rather than which side the character is on.
2 – Bridges have shown up on some mock-up art for the game, so I’m almost completely certain that we’ll get to make use of bridges and other choke-points. I’m really looking forward to that as well. :D
3 – I think that the caravans of larger cities might get buffed a bit, so that they can actually stand up to minor bandit raids.
– Friendly locations might get introduced. Still up in the air, though.
– A log keeping track of what your characters have done is definitely getting implemented. Same goes for a log of your dead.
– Auto-resolve honestly feels like kind of a weird addition. It seems like a better fit for a full-on strategy game, where you start dealing with multiple large battles per turn, rather than a game where you always have a single unit to control. It’s probably easier to have puny forces get scared if you’re strong enough and have them avoid fighting you.
Keep ’em coming with ideas. The more the merrier. :D
