Suggested Improvements for the GC [Spoilers].
Ok, I was forewarned by reading this forum, but still the arrival of the GC was anti-climactic. Well, not so much his arrival as what happened afterwards – the solving of the final three puzzles in less than five minutes, with no effort on the part of the villagers other than to follow the GC around and celebrate, and very little effort on the part of the game player. It would have made a heck of a lot more sense in this game if the GC’s gifts had been mental rather than magical. This might have been a better scenario more in the spirit of the game:
- You get the announcement that the Golden Child has arrived. The villagers notice that he is very intelligent and not like other children (very similar to “The Troubled Child” event). At this moment he (or she, please!) has no skills.
- You drop the GC at the Research Table. Poof! He is now a Master Researcher.
- You drop the GC on the crop field. Poof! She is now a Master Farmer.
- You drop the GC and another Master Farmer on the strange fruitless plant (have to have both). You get an announcement that due to her skills and knowledge, the GC is able to determine how to get the plant to bear fruit…but then your village Farmers must actually work on the plant (watering it, fertilizing it) a little while before it does bear fruit.
- You drop the GC on a hut that needs fixing (or some other building task). Poof! He is now a Master Builder.
- You drop the GC and another Master Builder on the boulder (have to have both). You get an announcement that due to his skills and knowledge, the GC is able to determine how to move the boulder. Scaffolding appears. And now the builders must work on it for a while, same as with the temple, the idol, the treasure chest, etc., before you gain entrance to the cave.
- You drop the GC on the medical Cactus. Poof! She is now a Master Doctor.
- You drop the GC and another Master Doctor in the flower garden. Butterflies come flocking. You get an announcement that due to her skills and knowledge, the GC has found a new herb/plant with amazing healing powers (that requires pollination by butterflies). Village doctors all have to visit it and study it just like the other herbs before they can use it. Or something…I think the game designers could easily come up with something more interesting than “butterflies gracing the garden”.
Some of the other GC powers also should be altered. For example, the GC could IMPROVE berry and crop production rates, but not make berries and crops magically appear. And please cut back on the number of parties!!

A lot of my reaction to the GC’s actions has to do with the desire for the game to continue, and having the GC magically make all the serious problems go away lessens the enjoyment of further gameplay in that particular game. On the other hand, I suppose it is one way to end a particular game, since all your problems are solved, and now you can go try it again at different settings. It’s just not the way I would have chosen.

One last comment: How can a five-year-old be maxed out on breeding skills?????