STATUS

Important lessons:

- Trim all the story fluff. Keep your narrative tightly focused and don't let players forget what they're doing or why they're doing it.
- Moral choices that judge players based on the way they play, not by static "moral" choices.
- Don't overcomplicated your game. It's not the mechanics themselves that make the game fun, it's how creatively they're used.
- Every character has a purpose, both in the story and in gameplay. Each party member can do things that no others can and have stories that tie in to your own, NOT forced into mandatory side stories.
- Length =/= quality.
- Do not force players to grind. As long as they keep fighting the encounters they come across, they should fail if and only if they don't play the game right.
- Destined to lose battles aren't as bad as people think. If you can get a glimpse of how strong the boss is when he slaughters you, then it'll give players a milestone to achieve as they continue to play.