Sooo... now that easy difficulty is in, has anyone been playing with it? Did it help?
It did. I've played a while on easy now, and have to say now it does feel much better balanced for me. I still die often enough to feel challenged, but I am able to skill my char much more to my liking.
Even the weapon degrading "feels" fine now. So I am really pleased with the changes here.
But it does feel like the new economy system needs some way more balancing done....