Long time lurker, first time poster.
While the topic may seem a bit harsh, that is sadly exactly how I feel :/. Im not trying to troll or anything here and Im posting in hopes that some people will take note.
I played the alpha a lot, and I was one out of a group of 4 friends who spent a lot of time on it. I was the only one out of the group that beat everything and unlocked everything. I loved the Vampire. He was so overpowered and it was so fun to play as him that I feelt that it was a just reward. Transmuter was also a favorite. I loved how you could find "game breaking combos" that would usually depend on getting 2-3 random elements in your favor. It was never obvious from the start that "this way" or "that way" would be the right angle and you had to experiment a fair bit.
The alpha was still really hard at times, but the kick I found when I had those random elements align to make me do what I set out to do was nothing less than awesome. It was what made that game great.
So I've been playing the beta for a while. It's hard and whenever I find some new tactic it seems to have been nerfed already. I've only unlocked Tinkerer and Transmuter thus far and they both play less fun than they did in the alpha. I think on the last few missions and I'm unable to do them. So I have to grind a lot of levels for cash that I can use while I fail at the real levels. The more you grind, the more you get slapped in the face with the taxidermist penalty so it takes longer and longer.
This is where I'm at now: http://imageshack.us/f/685/25826184.jpg/
And it really feels like you took away what made the game fun and replaced it with a lot of new mobs, most which are just beyond annoying.
It could be the way I play I guess, so let me give you an example of how I did my last run.
I've been trying Minecraft lately and my last run was with a Elf Paladin as I want a might & magic approach to it. Sensation stone, smugler's den, fireball, 50 gold, shop scroll and conversion seal. Once in I pop the conversion seal into the sensation stone. Set down the shop, it has a mana pot. Then I start clearing. Calculation fog to healing/mana as I work my way into the level. I always try kill stuff higher level than me, but on this level its tricky. I get the physical resist boss to about 30% and Im out of pots. I got to level 8, not close enough to 9 to push it that way and no mobs around worthwhile.
Now I see things that I could improve, but I have to grind 2 lesser dungeons first. It just feels more like a chore and not fun. I should point out that Im normally the kind of guy who will go 10 extra miles to min max something in games, but its sort of hard to know what items or such could have helped me here. In the alpha you had a better view over what you had to do in order to get new stuff. Here, I have no idea half the time. Heck, I still havent unlocked Mystera Annur, Dracul and Jehora Jeheyu. I've seen this drake mob that has 999 hp and seems invincible at times and I'm guessing that he is linked to one of those.
In short I find it hard to keep track over what I should and could be doing and when I find a fun way (or exploity) way to play the game as some would call it. It has been nerfed. Also the grind that Im forced to do is not fun at all in the long run.
I've read the forums a bit and it seems like you cater to the really hardcore players. Don't do that, its a horrible marked idea. People will ALWAYS find a way to break a game and if you make the game based on these people, then it will be a really boring game for the rest of us.
-Kess