Ive never found a problem with it at all, personally i dont use tactics too much except for the basic boring default attacks. For most battles I prefer using full control over your team. The pause system is required imo however, even back in the BG days when playing co-op online you would always have the pause system enabled for all players as it was vital to give orders and cast specific spells at the right exact moment. Though the spells in DA are hardly as vast or complex as those in BG and even NWN, the fact is on the harder difficulty settings the AI will never choose the right spell for the right moment, even if your tactics are all set up, your never 100% guranteed. Better to have full control.
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regarding the combat system, I've really enjoyed it. maybe i'm too much of a micro-manager but I spend more time paused queuing up actions than I do in actual live combat time. I did take some time, though, a couple weeks back trying to manage my tactics and actually found strategizing that way to be fun and quite effective. I've only played on normal difficulty though so far.
Pause + queue does turn out to be really effective - although I seldom bother except for myself or casters, or when I really need a specific effect to hit something. When the going gets tough it often gets you through much easier, though.