Enjoyed the interview and the direction of the game. If I had 1 piece of advice it would be..

Thought your interview came across as honest, straightforward, and I agree with most of the points and direction of the game. Good job.
I like having 1 life/portal per map because it makes each map feel important especially since you are addressing some issues with map sustain and certain mobs 1 shotting.
So what would my 1 piece of advice be? I would like to see your pet be able to pickup anything stackable like currency so obviously NOT gear. Why? Because with 1 life per map a lot of time during your run, things get chaotic, messy, and you don’t always get a moment to grab currency before your character gets killed. I think this would be a nice middle ground where maps still feel very important but you at least would die knowing your pet was able to grab your rare currency drop before your character gets killed. This would ease some of that pain from the exp penalty but you would still walk away feeling excited you got that divine or perfect jeweler’s orb.
Anyway, glad to see you guys back and hope you enjoyed your holiday and got to spend it with the family.