is it just me ? or has anybody else noticed that the game is either extremely easy, or ridiculously hard? w/very little inbetween?

ie: 2/3s game pitch black blind night or
1/3 clear bright day

adventuring on defined open paths or
wandering hopelessly thru undergound mazes w/no logical solution- stout mines, snake temple, skull castle,etc.

creatures like worgars or
AMAZON MANTRAPS!!!!

guild quests like deliver an arrow or
kill the Naga! and get out

does anyone else feel that the game, while mostly fun, bugs aside, lacks overall balance?

Agreed! The game does seem to relish extremes.
I would have liked to see more quests contained within a reasonable area to where the characters get the quest. I really didn't enjoy having to trek across vast areas and back again to complete certain quests with such minimal rewards.
I've already posted my lack of enthusiasm for game designers fascination with darkness. There are other ways to make exploring interesting and/or difficult without having to paint everything black.
Still, I've enjoyed this game. It's not so overly large that by the time I got 2/3rds of the way through I lost interest.
Wyv

Well, welcome to the world of the Classic RPG. I do agree though about night and day - what's with the long nights? It's quite irritating. I figured maybe the Amazoni Mantraps are used as a filter for low-level characters. Maybe Mr Bradley wants to make sure we're powerful enough before we wander westwards of Ishad N'ha. In that case, it is a balancing tool.

The walking about is irritating too... gosh, it really makes one appreciate D2's Town Portal and waypoint system. Which is where the Moon spells come in... thank goodness for the portal.