I bought the original (your free expansion ploy got me), and I must admit that I stopped playing it after a little while.  So I'm not sure if some of these changes are also in post 1.1 of the original.

That said, the changes are great!  Much more like how I envisioned the game when the original was in development.

More interesting gear, more interesting wandering mobs, better spells, better hero advancement, better city management.   Just better!

Above all, one important thing tell me its better, in the first game I got frustrated and TBH, disinterested fairly quickly, I was only playing to see if it got better each turn.

Now I've got the REAL one more turn feeling.  The one where cool stuff is going on, and I KNOW more cool stuff is around the corner.  

I might come back later and write up some more critical stuff on what works, and my opinion on what you should keep adding too, but for now, just a big fat THANKS!