Finding the right difficulty level was challenging. People have given us different feedback depending on their skill: some keep dying around level 6, some find the game too easy. We tried to keep it difficult enough for it to be still being joyable by everyone. I agree personally that it should be tougher (and with more levels)!
Same thing for the "tutorial" aspect of the first levels. We wanted to make sure that casual players would not get overwhelmed too quickly.
About the tier 1 bow, you don't have to buy it first. Apart from the sword, you can buy weapons in the order you choose.
The shop was put as a incentive for people to keep playing in the context of a Web game which you don't know anything about. We feared players would not understand the scope of the game without it. I tend to agree with you though, as a gamer I prefer exploring and finding hidden items.
Finding the right difficulty level was challenging. People have given us different feedback depending on their skill: some keep dying around level 6, some find the game too easy. We tried to keep it difficult enough for it to be still being joyable by everyone. I agree personally that it should be tougher (and with more levels)!
Same thing for the "tutorial" aspect of the first levels. We wanted to make sure that casual players would not get overwhelmed too quickly.
About the tier 1 bow, you don't have to buy it first. Apart from the sword, you can buy weapons in the order you choose.
The shop was put as a incentive for people to keep playing in the context of a Web game which you don't know anything about. We feared players would not understand the scope of the game without it. I tend to agree with you though, as a gamer I prefer exploring and finding hidden items.