Nah, It's not just you. The start is always a bit slow. Hunting is one of the best things you can do for the first job for slaves, since in the beginning the first few slaves'll probably be your battle slaves, if only for a bit, and fighting gives courage which boosts hunt productivity. I usually do this until I can set a few to public entertainer, one of the best, and easiest, jobs to make money from. Then I just set someone to cook and boom! Self sustained.
As for the other points: I do agree with a few of them.
Food: Definitely a tad annoying. You lose sooo much just 'cause you have a lot of it.
Rope: I always end up forgetting to take some and end up missing a great find :/
Communal Limit: A bit annoying, true, but it makes sense. There's no way you could fit infinite amounts of people into a single room.
Fights: You can win in the beginning, but yes, it's harder than it used to be.
Upgrades: It is a bit annoying to get the points to upgrade, but not THAT hard. I farm basic thug encounters around wimborn for slaves and sell 'em off. Only when I REALLY need to upgrade. Most of the time, I just get the luxury upgrade, the lab, the alch room, and start upgrading living space. I ignore most of the other upgrades unless I feel I NEED it. The Farm upgrade, for instance, I don't like being a jerk, so if I ever use it, I make it not break the girl you put in.
And that's about it.
So, basically, your answer to the topic question is: It's too hard/time intensive.
One thing you can do about the time issue is: build up the slaves required for quests early. For example: When you have a chance, go out and collect slaves. If you see a traveling taurus, or happen to be training in the area where fairies show up, nab 1 or 2 for later. While you don't need 'em, you can keep 'em for yourself. Then when you DO need 'em, you can go 'Oh! That's right! I have 'name'! Quest done!' It'll let you proceed quicker. If only a little. I can beat the game pretty quick by just remembering the requirements for late game quests. My only stumbling block is the Golem, honestly. It hits hard, and doesn't drop easy.
Quick note though: You can lose the chance to get the unique slave Maple if you just instantly turn in the fairy quest. Talk to her first. I don't know if you have to do all the talking before you turn it in, but you have to at least start the side-quest for her during that quest.