I think some people here are a bit "selfish" in their criticisms of games. As in, if something isn't done exactly the way they want it, then it must be "flawed." Or, if they cannot adapt to the rules as they are and come up with a sound strategy, then it's not their fault; the game is "flawed." God forbid anyone adapt and learn new things!
PoE challenges some preconceptions of party-based combat design, and for the better. (Some people really don't like change, I guess). I've had a blast coming up with my own clever ways of getting through encounters within the wide range of possibilities that the system allows. One of the things I hated most about BG2 was that many encounters had one "right" way of getting past them.
PoE throws a challenging fight at you, and then empowers you with a full arsenal of creative possibilities to overcome the fight with your own tactical prowess. The system seems brilliant and incredibly well-though out to me, much better than I ever anticipated would happen.
Well, back to adventuring! I'll let the grumpy and jaded continue to find obtuse, meaningless little things to nit-pick while Durance and the gang help me bash some skulls and solve some quests.