Just my two pennies worth,
Having played around with the game for a bit, checking the forums here and there, there is one thing that might not have been suggested and one that has. (couldn't find it but i'm bad at searching) I would think these are really really good additions to pzc2 and help elevate the game to the next level.
1: Having outros, or end briefings. Didn't see it mentioned anywhere that they will be implemented, but once again i might be blind. They aren't in the 48-h beta, and didn't see it in the soon-to-come notes with it. Here's why:
They really help telling you what's going on in the war on a larger scale. The intro's really don't put everything in perspective. I know what i need to do on a tactical level, but i fail to see the larger picture. This larger picture helps players immerse themselves into WW2 and into the game.
Currently i have no clear picture why i'm going into a certain battle, and what happens afterwards. If i beat the Norway South scenario, will Norway surrender? What happens to Narvik? Did we secure the supply of raw materials to Germany? Getting the outro really helps getting a picture what doing the battle achieves. It gives us more of a purpose and sense of achievement finishing the mission. Instead of thinking "ah i won the scenario" you think "ah I secured the import of iron ore, helped establish airbases and naval bases etc. etc." You get a better feeling knowing what you just did has accomplished. Even if it's mentioned briefly by the narrator at the start of a mission, you don't really get that level of information that you used to get from the previous games. Panzer General and Panzer Corps both had outro's or end briefings.
Quite frankly i miss that a lot. For me it means i feel there is something off with the narration (i'm no game designer so i don't have the cure but i think outros would help). Missing this makes the game feel more as an accumulation of missions that i need to accomplish with increasing difficulyy than an immersion into the battles of WW2.
2: I know this one extremely likely won't get implemented, it's probably been said before, but this one also connects with the outro's because it deals with the endorfine rush people get when feeling a sense of achievement:
The re-introduction of Minor/Major victories. Yes, i've seen the opinion of the developers, but i wanted to get this off my chest.
Currently, whenever i finish a mission in PzC2, i feel a very minor sense of achievement, something along the lines of: "Ah, guess next mission it is" Since there is only victory and loss it doesn't really matter if i did really well or not. I'm not incentivised to try and do better. Getting a more prestige finishing early doesn't really motivate. A higher prestige number at the end of the campaign doesn't motivate you to try and do well, after all who cares about a higher number? Am i supposed to imagine a bigger applause or something from the German people if i win with more prestige, more flowers from Hitler? It doesn't speak to the imagination much right? If you win a mission, you can always choose to go a-historical (it seems), you always choose your own path, so you get little sense of achievement, little endorfine, and thus little enjoyment.
Now to go back to my feelings in Panzer General, Panzer Corps. Whenever you had the possibility to get a-historical scenario's (like invading the caucasus from Africa in Panzer General, or the Streets of Moscow scenario in the Grand Campaign) you had to get a Major Victory for that. You had to give it your all, had to try your absolute best to get that special scenario. Yes you might have to retry, and that sucks sure, but that excitement you get from getting there, for actually doing that well, for going over the top and doing something that wouldn't normally happen in the game and in real life was really really great. You felt like you did something amazing.
"Wow, despite the mud and rain i got to the outskirts of Moscow so fast i get to assault the city, awesome! Otherwise i would've had to wait for next year to get another opportunity to win in Russia" (and do the Stalingrad mission etc. Remember there were 3 shots at winning in the east in Panzer General and 2 in Panzer Corps) This turns into this thought with PzC2 -> "ah i win the Viazma(?) scenario. Now i can choose to still lose anyways or go Moscow. But i need to win to continue the campaign anyways, it's technically Moscow or lose, so it's just another scenario" It's nothing special, the special sense of achievement is lost, and you get less excitement from playing the game.
So i think it's a shame that's gone. Not saying the turn limit neccessarily was a good deciding factor, maybe it was, but there is room for creativity there. But missing the distinction takes away the sense of achievement for this game for me, and maybe other players as well. People shouldn't be afraid to fail on a first try, and we shouldn't try to take away every slight possible dissapointment people might get in a game. Take away the chance to fail, you take away the chance to succeed.
Isn't failing, trying again, and again until you finally succeed, isn't that one of the best moments you can get in your life?
Combined with the missing outro's these two things are what i would like to see implemented most, and quite frankly what i miss in this game to get it from marginally liking it to actually getting excited to play. And people getting excited to play means more profits ultimately, which is why i think these two things should be implemented.
Thanks if you read the entire thing.
NP
My idea to further increase realism is to add bullet holes and explosions on the ground and little on tanks etc. And for the soldiers bloody wounds. It would be something great if you could add such things