User blog comment:Mathmagician/Hard Mode Bosses Solo Walkthrough/@comment-4246239-20120108173621/@comment-4674838-20120109001133

I don't think it was intentionally put there, and honestly I would like to see these "exploits" removed from the game myself. I think they will remain in the game though, for 2 reasons.

First, I believe that the developers generally place higher priority on making the game free to be played however people want to play it (sandbox + RPG, replayability, non-linear game progression) rather than making it challenging by limiting the number of viable options (strictly RPG, not as much replay value, mostly linear game progression). In other words, I think these exploits are "features" rather than "bugs."

Secondly, I think that if they were bugs, it would be a prohibitively expensive time investment for the developers to fix them. Simple balance fixes such as nerfing the Cross Necklace or increasing the Heart Statue cooldown time wouldn't fix the exploits, they'd just make them harder to use. Massive changes to the game would be required to completely fix the issues (e.g. completely removing Heart Statues from the game, removing the player invulnerability period after taking damage). I think the developers would rather spend their time on developing new content.

Anyways, that's just my opinion. I'm not a developer, so I don't know exactly what's going to happen either. Ultimately the game works like this now, so I don't really see a reason not to play it like it is in the here and now.