Well I like the bottom part - but not the top. Call me greedy, but I'd really like to see at a minimum 5 races (preferably at least one non-human Kingdom or split up into sub-races (Mancers etc.) ),  and the kind of stuff you mentioned for the 2-race scenario. In my personal estimation this amount of customization and flexibility will be what brings the game from a 7 to a 9 in most review books.  Races are a huge deal in a fantasy game. They are a lot of what gives the game its personality.

You are seemingly forgetting that players will still want the A.I. factions to be fleshed out by the developer- consider that though almost everyone played with a custom faction in Galciv2, they were still happy playing against Drengin and Yor. So please don't liquidate your old ideas.

I like this new idea. One of the things that kind of worries me about the current 10 faction system is that they will all be similar. What bugs me about a lot of strategy games is that the factions, while different aesthetically, they play very similarly. As much as I love Sins, the three races aren't super different from each other at the base. They do have differences, but most of them are subtle.

I think leaving most of the customization to the player could result in some more unique playstyles. And the intermixing races thing could lead to some interesting game mechanics. Would we be able to "encourage" our own race to move to and settle captured cities, like some modern day countries do? I imagine that a captured city of a race not your own would be less loyal to you.

I too would like more stock races.  But if having only two does away with silly race conversion on capture and allows unit mixing, I say go for it.  More tools for the community to produce content seems like a better use of resources to me.  That said, strager does have a point.

How would this change affect the campaign?  

I like the idea. I'm assuming that we can import other races the same way we'll be able to eventually import maps, icons, etc.

If this makes it easier to allow for custom race creation I'm all for it. Let the developer flesh out the game, let the gamers flesh out the content!

A second thought I had, with the AI not even remotely fleshed out and the factions being only marginally different right now this may just be biased by how much fun we have designing factions.

I agree.  In GalCiv, I don't think I ever played with a stock race as I much preferred to make a custom one from game to game.  I would much rather have two basic starting races and the ability to create customized ones, with the added benefit of a more realistic take on race mixing, than have a lot of pre-fab races and less realism on the racial front.  If we can easily import races as nite says above, there really is no downside to this.

I Very Much like the idea of making our own Races. I love it in fact. This part though bugs me...

The way you describe it here "So even if you made a race of those Avatar blue guys, when you capture a city from Pariden, the city would remain populated by Men."

the next sentence contradicts that.

"You would then be able to created a mixed army where they all have their strengths and weaknesses and visually look different.  So you could create a true “Last Alliance”."

With the sentence before then this should say "You wouldn't be able to created a mixed army" , or at least not in the Same City.

You need to be prepared to handle Mixing Races in the Same City. Have one Barracks as normal, but have that Barracks be able to make troops out of the Mixed Population of the city. The conquered city would stay populated by the race of Men, but the other race would move in too. It makes sense to give the player a choice which race his newly created soldier would come from in the city.

Now, I completely understand that from a Programming perspective it is much simpler to keep each city it's own race, but, that kinda seems like the lazy way out if you ask me. I love the Created Race idea, A LOT, but, if you're going to do it you should do it right. Don't half-ass it.

I say Go For It!!!!!

"A second thought I had, with the AI not even remotely fleshed out and the factions being only marginally different right now this may just be biased by how much fun we have designing factions."

Yes.  Also, I've been known to go custom with every magic / research / spell-book option available, just to see how magic works in the beta, even though I wouldn't play that faction for real.

Please have LOTS of variety in the built-in factions, partly so the AI opponents will be different, as also to let us check out the different flavors before / instead of building our own.

In my gut 2-4 races sounds about right. With less races, there is more lore for each race you make. With expansions you can add more stock races later on.

But Ya even I mostly use custom factions... So more custom options there are, the more I won't mind the low number of stock races...

Make having mixed races in a city a feature and when making armies. It will make things way more interesting!

I'd like to see the current faction system remain.  Playing as a custom faction is one thing, but I doubt many would feel like filling a game with them.  Premade factions will pretty much inevitably have better flavour than custom ones.  GalCiv makes a great example; you can't fill a game with enough options to deal with Thalan-Terran, Terran-Altarian etc relations, and they're quite interesting (They would be moreso if the results went a bit deeper than a unique greeting and a disposition bonus/penalty).

Also, none (or very little) of that flavour is implemented yet, so it's inevitable that the premades don't shine as much as I expect they would later in the development cycle.  The premades in their current state are just a set of traits, no more unique than if the player keyed the same points into the action editor.

EDIT: Rereading, I'm not sure if I missed the point or not.  Would this system be relacing the existing factions?

If there is any idea and mentality in the Stardock offices concerning efficiency in focusing on things felt important and necessary, than I understand completely from your Independent perspective. However, I feel you are combining this "content-focus" with "game-lore design" for lack of better words, mentality to much together. Furthermore, I understand and love the faith in suggesting the modding community to come will up take the reins to create content, yet, imagine if the developers of Age of Wonders just scrapped all twelve unique races and said "Let's just have Elves and Dark Elves, let the modders create the Orcs, Humans, Frostlings, cetera." Comparing that example to this, it is exaggerated and broadened, but merely mean't as an example.

Thus, I feel you should keep the unnecessary lore-oriented races such as the Trog, Urxen, cetera and let them be part of the Fallen Genus, but be their own individual Species and have significantly different, yet similar strengths and weaknesses related to the original Fallen-Men.

One of my biggest concerns is that multiplayer games need to have an option to prevent user-made races and the "culture" factions be one of the regular permanent features. I'd hate enough to see peoples poor excuses for Avatar's and Michael Jackson's, but as actual races!? Michael's getting +1 Fertility!? *Shakes fist in the air* "Damn you Frogboy, damn you!"

Finally, I think you should seriously consider implementing what Master of Orion 3's modders found in the files, being their Ethos system. http://moo3.quicksilver.com/official/religion02.html

If we are to have our own factions between these two races, (please mix it up and include the other two!), than we need some sort of dynamic, say, "a clash of cultures" between factions. I haven't fleshed it out in my imagination, but factions whether they're paired Fallen to Men to each other wouldn't decide all, but be judged almost entirely on their strength and weakness choices will find themselves either more friendly or hostile to each other. The idea that on one end of the ethos-spectrum exists civilizations of Men and Fallen co-existing peacefully like blacks and whites in America sharing the same ideals that are primarily focused around material things, knowledge and class is possible. Yet, how absurd and truly alien this must be and is to co-existing Men and Fallen that place physical strength, ancestral beliefs and military traditions above all other aspects of their culture. Thus, you will find whether Fallen or Man, will when diplomatically dealing with each other or you have cities that share different factions with far different cultures, become great concerns and obstacles in your games.

Though Factions should without the players deliberate input and by natural world development, gain and lose their strengths and weaknesses unless they're not racial, but only cultural (factional). Natural world development being, if your faction of Fallen are the best miners in the game (+5) yet you haven't established a mine or quarry in first 50 turns, they'll lose 1 or 2 points off that strength. Factions populations that are hostile to each other are taken over, and their original faction still exists in the game, they'll act as if they're subjugated and worst, at war, just in the streets like guerrilla fighters. It will take large parts of your gildar revenue, large garrisons and dozens after dozens of turns to comform them to your culture. However, if their original faction died, whether friendly or hostile, they'll more easily lose their original traits and begin replacing theirs with yours.

I know that was a lot, but this Journal excited me lol.

So races of cities would work like Master of Magic and Age of Wonders in that you can build their units once you capture their cities.

Sounds good to me.

Isn't it a bit sour for you guys who have worked hard to create the Pariden, Gilden, Capitar and the others just to see everybody make their own faction..?

If you go through on this, what would happen to the Trogs and Urxen?

The idea is great!!  More customisation choices.   The points raised above about have premade factions needing to be included can be gotten around by having a module in the AI algorithm that actually designs its faction/race at the beginning of each game.

Also, by putting all these customisations options, you could have a competition with the beta testers to create races/factions and award the top five creations (with backstories) be bundled as prefab factions/races in the final game.  This would easily add to any premade factions/races the developers put in for the campaign story/background of elemental.

Also, If you're looking into the faction/race creation system, it could easily be fleshed out by having gradients of strengths and weaknesses, see MOO 2 race creation.  eg, great thinkers (or whatever its called) gives +10% Research.  However, you could extend this to +10%, +20%, or +30%, costing more race/faction points for the higher grades.  Similarly, weaknesses can be really bad weaknesses:  eg Dumb (or whatever it is called), -10% research, could be extended in the same way as great thinkers.