Re-written in balance sense only. Lore-wise it was fine.
I know there are different people with different play-styles. But you need to understand the concept of balance, boys. 10 Spelunker potions, or telling you exactly how to defeat the Wall of Flesh is NOT balanced. Those are the kind of things that need to be improved upon.
Balance means that, not matter how "casual" you are, you will be able to deal with the challenge. It won't be "too easy" or "too hard" for anyone. That's what balance is about.
People complain about balance because they do not understand it, but it's easier than most people think. A balanced game experience, specially in a mod like this, will make you enjoy the game throughly. Regardless of your playstyle. I think this whole "people are casuals, so keep platinum pickaxes" logic isn't a great argument. It simply is not good game design, at all. People usually bash Terraria game design, but when they try to "fix" what they think is wrong, they only make things more unbalanced.
But OP here is making changes, and I think those are perfect so far.
I gotta disagree with OP here and say that you can make early game as interesting as late game, witht the right quests. Wouldn't it be nice if this mod did just that?
I agree that 10 spelunkers for the early game is generous and should be adjusted.
Plat tools early on is arguably too generous but we have to bear into account that this is a mod and not an actual official release. Mods go by different rules/criteria. They have different objectives. Some mods like Less Grinding, by definition, lowers the "challenge" and therefore are going to re-balance the game toward "easy". Some mods, like Durability, will increase the challenge and re-balance the game toward "hard". Expeditions add on to the flavor and experience of Terraria. The basic skeleton is really solid.
Don't forget that the rewards after that aren't that generous. I mean, the pre-fixes are great but it's not like we're given Molten Armor pre-Skeletron. I also think that as a Mod, the rewards being slightly ahead of the curve is a reasonable thing.
So back to plat tools, if the Modder feels like being generous by making these tools available early on, that's his "present". It's not like you HAVE to buy the plat tools and it's like we're talking Moon Lord level pickaxes here. Think of it as how some games will give players who pre-order bonus items. In the end, you gotta take into account that this is a Mod, not an official release. Can mods be balanced? Sure. But do they HAVE to? Nope.
At the end of the day though... can the mod rewards be adjusted? Sure. Should the shop items be limited to Wayfarer gear? Maybe. But I had to chime in and object because a) I felt this was a really good mod and I didn't want the modder to get the impression it wasn't well received. b) I felt your requests which basically said to remove all the flavorful aspects of this mod to be extreme.
We gotta remember, "balance" is not just about appropriate challenge. It's also about fun. Good game design is actually not about being a challenging game, but also being fun and preferably addictive. Because at the end of the day, the objective of a game is... to make money (betcha thought I was gonna say "fun"). Of course, this mod isn't about making a dime but the concept is still the same. And the thing with that is... getting everything on a silver platter isn't necessary what's fun or will retain players, but neither is pure difficulty. You have to find the, well, balance.
Phew, pardon the yet another long post. No offense to ya Iara. I'm just offering an alternative view. Your views are also valid. Again, I agree that getting 10 spelunkers for the second(?) quest is generous. I just wanted to chime in because I felt your requests seem a bit too extreme.
Not that it matters mind you since it seems Flashkirby99 is making it so that the mod is simply a platform for Expeditions now. So I'm mostly posting to let him know that his work is appreciated and on the right track.