Haven't played for a while, but it really seems like Dekarous kinda goes nuts with these massive game-wide overhauls rather than just fixing the problems and exploits that he doesn't like. Tied for first there was the Shadowbound>Surrender>Llavanya's Melody>Free turn before going Shadowbound again exploit. Instead of fixing the "Surrender" mechanic so that it ends the fight instead of filling up your TP bar while Shadowbound prevents the fight from ending, he mucks around with how many MP Shadowbound costs... so you just have to be a higher level to use the exploit. Also in first there was the fact that Mary and Katrina were beatable. Instead of removing the items and abilities or scripting rigged fights, the game gets a complete overhaul including mobs to grind against for EXP you can use to gain abilities in your selected class tree.
Unfortunately there was nothing to keep someone from completely progressing through each class tree in preparation for fighting Katrina for the 2nd time, and basically every class was virtually unbeatable with a full compliment of skills. There was also that cool-ass exploit that allowed a player to select a 2nd Class Tree's worth of skills by getting an NPC to level up (You haven't lived until you're that elementalist/crusader class wielding 2 staffs regenerating your MP every turn, Casting MULTIPLE spells to give you up to 3 attacks each turn, just blasting the shit out of everyone by making them into exploding popsicles!)
So now it sounds like there's another massive overhaul that's even more full of bugs and likely allows for a whole new set of exploits. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the world he's created and the abilities he sets up for MC. Really needs to just do some math and balancing so that mobs either stop showing up or stop giving EXP once MC reaches a stage where he should be able to figure out how to use his skills to win the boss fight.
I'd rather he lets good volunteer playtesters really sift through proposed updates for a few weeks looking for exploits, bugs and making sure that the stage IS beatable without being easy, while he starts building a new stage. Then he'd have a wide variety of suggestions on what the best types of fixes or rebalancing are and only need to implement the advice given instead of routinely going through a months-long rebuild of the whole game. It'd back up the FIRST routine public release date, but man... you can FEEL Dekarous' continued frustration with the game not going EXACTLY how he wants it.
Dekarous the product is GREAT in a myriad of ways, but you DON'T have whole team of developers under you! Because of the limited target audience, prioritize the positive reactions of the target audience and target the Dev lessons you learn for YOUR future projects.
SURE, this is a nice big potentially epic fantasy save the world story... but honestly, they're a dime-a-dozen. I guarantee that Domina will NOT be your only epic fantasy project unless you get stuck on it forever. If I was the Dev, I'd much rather hammer through this project's storyline to its conclusion, have the results be less-than-perfect but appreciated by the audience, and build my next world (or build an expansion chapter) with the greater expertise gained from this endeavor.
Once it's done, you can always remake the whole game at a later date if you want to