I was disappointed with this game after placing a lot of hope into it.
The game has a couple of problems (aside from the bugs), and in my opinion no amount of patching/balancing/AI improvements will fix it.
The main problem is that it's just not that much fun to play. If you played the original MOM, or even a Civ game you'd be familiar with the "one more turn" mentality they can create. With EWOM, there is just nothing to look forward to. Most of the time you are either sitting back clicking "next next next" waiting for enough resources to build your army and win the game.
The spell system needs an overhaul. The spells completely lack imagination and most are in essence the same thing. "Do X damage" or "Summon Y". I thought there'd be more scope to customise the kinds of spells you had, like in MOM.
If you HAVE played MOM, all you need to know is that we've gone almost 20 years since it's release, and the gameplay has actually gone backwards. Honestly the graphics aren't that much better either.
It's so hard to put a finger on what's wrong with this game. I'm sure people will pick holes through what I've found fault with, but the bottom line is, this game is just not much fun to play.
And why can't I get any food unless I have a "fertile" square!?!?!?