I like strong champions fighting in person, so the main point leaves me cold.

Hostages & ransom would be cool if the devs can find time to put them in.

Sorry but nope, i think that would suck. I like it when my champions are rampaging through enemies. It just needs to be better balanced with other things. 

That's my two cents but according to the poll results so far, it would seem that making regular units more useful and interesting is preferred by many over nerfing champs.

i would rather have it so that a champion could merge with a normal unit - becoming that units leader

and able to remove from the unit so as the game progresses and you build/find new units you upgrade your heroes group.

While I initially voiced my opinion about having heroes mostly function as army buffers I am not on board with this. Joining a champion with a unit proposes a massive change to the game and a removal of many aspects that are still entertaining. I like the idea of ransoming units. I like the option of creating a champion that buffs the army units he is grouped with. I still want that champion to be capable of fighting on his own.

With split xp, we may see more diversified stacks of units. I don't mind champions as powerful unit stacks on their own, they are just a little out of pace with the rest of the game. Bring that in line and we won't need to have these game-changing discussions ^^;

Please no, let's not overreact on the balance of champs right now. We're at version 0.77. Already champs are better balanced then they were in 0.75. It's just a matter of balance not changing one of the major concepts of the game.

Your playing the wrong game if you want Champions as Generals not heroes. You should try Heroes of Might and Magic, this game is designed entirely around active heroes.

I think a similar result could be accomplished using a system akin to Civ 4s, have champions be able to tack onto units and the benefits be that they grant that specific unit buffs based on their specializations. The result being that units with champions attached are just as powerful as champions are now but have the quality of being a unit still and not feeling like one person is mowing down unit after unit on their own.

So for example have more specialized skills like "spear master" and all polearm units they are attached to get some kind of special bonus. This has the added benefit of not letting a single piece of gear make a champion a god.

I think a mix of the current champions and the general style champions would add depth to the game. Allow some Lancelot still super soldiers to mow down armies, but allow other tactician style champions to function differently as tactical additions. Plus that could be a loophole to allow units of magic users instead of single ones, give a benefit to special units design to complement a mage. So your mage has a unit of shielded spell resisters that give him high defense despite his/her poor gear defense, or conversely assistant casters who make his /her magic more powerful.

Champions really are the only large difference between FE and HOMM

so ya just play HOMM

I think strategy and RPG are fundamentally opposed and cannot be truly mixed.

If champion leveling is strong enough to be worthwhile, then it is strong enough to ruin the strategy aspect of the game.

Currently champions are so overpowering that there is no point in having anything BUT champions.

I don't really enjoy many strategy games that are all scenarios.  I prefer sandbox.  

Or what about depending upon if your faction's prestige was higher than another faction's prestige that you could hire or seduce away champions to your cause.

The members of the Fellowship certainly did gather all those folks in ROTK when it was time to fight conquer and defend cities.

No sir. This would get us back to HoMM heroes and I don't want that. I want my heroes on the field. I want to have groups of heroes out there questing, killing monsters etc... just a general would be horrible to me. Also I like it that mages are more vulnerable and have to pay attention so they don't get caught by riders.