I enjoy a lot of things about this game such as the farming and people. But I do think the combat lacks not only in how it's played but all in all it's dated. You have over stepped your grounds as far as telling me it might not be for me. It is dated and I'm sorry you can't expand your education on games in general.
So your opinion is that FoE should be just like every other "game" on the market? Is this like the Westminster Dog Show, where every dog has to be within very specific parameters or not be considered worthy of being there? Every game has to have the same type of combat? Same type of trade system? Same type of player structure? And you are the one to decide whether a game qualifies? Interesting.
As to the battle system itself, it is fine. Dated? Umm...yes. The game is set up in eras, so each battle is dated, more or less. "Dated" really applies mostly to fashion. "Obsolete" would be more relevant to products with definite functions. "Archaic"? Maybe. Except that in games (generally), all of that is in the eye of the beholder. Some would say board games are "dated/obsolete/archaic", yet they still sell and families/friends still play them.
Does the Auto Battle AI not work as well as manually fighting? Well, yes. If it is seriously harming your game play, however, it means you're using it wrong. You would think that someone who tries to project themselves as the expert on "how games should be" would know that you learn the different aspects of a particular game and when to utilize or not utilize each one of them. There are times where it is the right choice to use Auto Battle, and times when it is not. Learn that before you mindlessly complain about it.
And finally, if you don't want to fight, don't. Like anything else in the game, that's a choice. With every choice comes consequences. (Oh, No!) Yes. Consequences. And the consequences of not fighting at all means there are going to be events that you can't complete. And if I'm not mistaken, you'll get stuck on the Story Quest line pretty early on. And, since you'll have to set up your city for maximum goods production, you'll be ripe for plundering. (And then you'll be back to complain about that.) Or, you could do the minimum of fighting and concentrate on other aspects of the game. That is the choice of many players. Most of them don't whine about it, though. Probably because they're not experts on how games should be and just don't know any better. Thank goodness you came along to set us all straight. Right?