Originally posted by gorgofdoom:

Originally posted by wizard_of_woz:

Well if you played the game more you would realize you don't need to make bronze armor. In my latest playthrough, bronze was by far my shortest tier, just made some tools and moved on.

You've hit the nail on the head, as far as describing the problem.

Bronze is pretty much useless past getting one single pickaxe, maybe a shield, and a (sub-par) boat. On top of that it's more difficult to acquire than anything but blackmetal which is just barely better than iron.

in my words; what does it actually add to the game besides an annoying 90 minute grind?

More depth for people that like to unlock everything. If you don't want it don't use it, no reason to take it away from others.