Not sure if that makes it better or worse

Just remember, it's not a reflection of how they feel about you or a sign that they don't think you're capable of writing something worth reading, it's just something that's going to happen and I wish I'd had a heads up.

Would actually make for some solid worlds to play in if "the forbidden forest of danger" and "the cursed dungeon" were actually terrifying places full of strong monsters and not just flavoring... On everyone's second characters after the inevitable party wipe on the first go around that is.

I think the best advice I got about receiving critiques was to say nothing but "thank you" while receiving and then to go and stew on it for a few days until the kneejerk emotions die down and you can look at things more objectively. No one ever agrees that their work is flawed right away.

In the same vein, fantasy often has active dieties and elements of the afterlife which interact with the living world, almost always representing good and evil entities

So the lack of modern things isn't a result of a lack of progress and innovation, it just isn't possible. Explaining the permanence of swords and armor and bows over the course of milenia in a high fantasy world

Alternative physics. I.e. elemental world that lacks atoms and therefore doesn't necessarily work exactly like ours. Gunpowder and nuclear weapons might not be possible, engines, steam expansion, all might be absent in such a world as a result of the building blocks of the world itself.