That's interesting. I've never heard of someone considering a lack of auto-save bad design. I'm used to playing RPGs and the golden rule of "save often" so having an auto-save seems more like a convenience than anything else.
Damn straight! I learned that hard lesson at 12 years old when playing Final Fantasy 6. Was trekking through to the Ancient Castle and opened the Tonberry treasure chest...reloaded my save and I lost about 5 hours of playtime cause I was cocky.