[LordArioch]

I didnt have stability issues with shadow magic...but it very quickly got to the point where it was just a tedious matter of killing more generic units with my generic units *again*. And attacking towns is just annoying since you either spend far too long to get fragile seige engines to break down the walls or do it with troops. I just dont like the way that 2 turns worth of production can die in a single hit as your troops manage to roll 1 damage.

"Oh look...more *insert any unit in game* for my druids to kill...yay" repeat twice per turn every turn. It just didnt feel fun to me.
Now good old MoM had "it". Even if you could take 11 life books and start by summoning the most powerful unit in the game. The most epic spell in age of wonders is.... Earth Mastery *and the like* whoo...i have domain...wow...

Compared to casting time stop or armageddon in MoM
or some global in dominions like Illwinter...it just feels so minor.