I just saw three other threads saying the mistlands were terrible. I agree with you however.

The terrain is unique, fun, and beautiful. It's challenging enough for an experienced player to die a few times, you CAN teleport the new minable resources so you don't have to build a brand new base in the biome. The Gjalls, seekers, and ticks are all pretty scary and interesting to fight (I don't much like the seeker soldiers though, just because of how much health and damage resistance they have - it might be more fun if their weak points could be hit more reliably for a lot of extra damage, like the Hunters from Halo 1).

I'm not a huge fan of anything you can craft at the black forge, since the armor is only negligibly better than padded, and I can't really tell if the weapons are better or worse than the black metal ones. If the basic damage were at least on par with black metal and they had some magic also, or if they had two types of magic damage each, or a lot of magic damage, or if they required less stamina, they might be worth it. Everything from the Galdr table is fun though.

It's also cool that there are some friendly people in the world who will sometimes save you from the dangers of the mists.

I don't know what a Seidr shaman is.