Thanks so much for trying the game again and sharing your thoughts!
"Items" were called "Loot" previously, but it seems some players thought you could loot smth from the enemies during battles (like a "steal" kind of action), so I changed it. And "Swag" is indeed funnier ^^
Enemies did drop chests in the previous version, maybe you've just been unlucky not to get one as the drop rate is not very high.
So yeah, stats now cost more for every 10 points tiers, i.e. Once you reach 10 for a stat, the next upgarde will cost you 20 Shards. Once you reach 20, it'll cost you 30, etc. So you can definitely farm slimes from early on for STR or any other stat, but at some point you'll have to make a choice about progressing in the game (use Shards to dispel the darkness and explore further) or just keep farming endlessly (as in pretty much any JRPG I guess, you could reach higher levels by just farming weak monsters forever). So that way it is still rewarding for the player to grind, but it won't be a viable option on the long term with just Blue slimes. Also, you used this "exploit" because you knew about it from the previous version, but now that enemies aren't respawning that often, I'm hoping it's less blatant and more of a "bonus" for players who do think about doing it? Let me know!
I did reduce the amount of Shards from slugs precisely because of that, but yeah, I understand it may not be fair if they drop the same amount as slimes. I'll probably get back to have them dropping 2 Shards: The result will be more or less as what I said above anyways: either farm forever or start exploring the game more. It'll all depend on the player.
Losing a part of your Shards when you run out of TP is actually a very good idea so as not to exploit it! Thanks!
About the TP die... Yeah, I get your point that it can be frustrating, but it is a die after all, so chance is definitely involved. Will try to think of things though!
Will keep tweaking stuff to try and find the perfect balance from the start. Thanks again for your great feedback! :)