[Xietor]

Thanks for the feedback.

"I'm not sure I'd play against this nation in MP."

Trust me, Man with KOA is just average. Their wardens are a bit better, but still nothing special. They a bit faster, but still are not mounted(meaning that midlevel evocation spells will tear them apart before they reach you).

They still have no tie in to Astral or Death. They still have no national summons to speak of. and will tremble when harbingers start flying around taking their provinces.

KOA mostly makes MA Man more fun to play. If you take the unique pretender, you can get a cheap e4n4 bless and have some design points, but you still face the prospects of a midgame and lategame with no thugs and sc's. So you have to plan for that to survive.

The extra elemental pick gives the crones true elemental diversity. And it is much needed. The map move 2 and removal of old age from the crones makes them a viable strikeforce and relevant in large games. The extreme old age of crones is not really a major factor on smaller maps, but it would be a killer on a large map. And count me in the number that crones may be old, but being nature mages, old does not mean on death's door.

Aside from the changes to the crones most of the other changes are not "major"
balance factors in a mp game setting. They are all factors, but the changes to the crones are by far the biggest change. Though I think a less experienced mp may think a boost to wardens is a big deal, but it really isn't.