In the world of the Fallen Enchantress, settlements gain their resources directly from the land they occupy. While there are still the occasional (i.e. rare) resource hoard like you saw in War of Magic, Fallen Enchantress concerns itself far more with how players make use of the terrain.
Now it also matters a great deal how precisely you use that spot.
For the first part, does that mean that we will no longer see things like the Oasis, Iron/Gold Mines, etc on the world map, but rather as an icon on the area in which these resources exist? Will future resources, ala Adventuring, still be there and function the same as they do in WoM, or will they sneak into the world as an icon over the area?
For part two, is this to imply that we will be using some of our magic (and civ tech) to help improve (exploit) certain tiles? If so, I really like this idea.
I disagree with 1-tile cities. I actually really liked how WoM handled city building, it gave a person (both owner and attacker) a quick glance as to what was there. It was also one thing that allowed Elemental stand apart. I will agree, however, that the instant travel from one side to the other was a little goofy.
In fact, one thing I would like to see (now that we'll have rivers) is the ability to build a city on a river, and then expand it onto the other side of the river.
