Now that I'm at the end of the plot, I will be doing my best to polish and improve overall quality before the 1.0.0 release! Glad you've enjoyed it. ^-^
1) This section is a frequent source of complaints, so I'll be revisiting and tweaking a bit. Will keep your issue in mind then.
2) I understand that rationale, and indeed that's why many skills are unlocked by events or the training courtyard. However, I think there's some value in having some skills by level as well, for variety. I did try to put them at logical times in the story!
3) Yeah, some people feel the same way. I'll consider it, at least.
>Also that "over 50 hours of gameplay" is such an understatement.
True, but I think if I put 100+ hours, people will assume it's 20 hours of story and 80+ hours of grinding or busywork.