Issue 1: Time
I'm only on my first play-through, so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but it doesn't seem like there's any meaningful passage of time in this game. Meaning, if I go and talk to an NPC for the first time after 1 hour of play, I'll have the exact same conversation with the same results as if I go and talk to that NPC after 30 hours of play. It feels like the world stops when we aren't looking, which doesn't feel satisfying. I want to feel like things are going on behind the scenes and that all of the NPCs have rich lives. Without that, the story feels a little flat.

Issue 2: Resting
As many folks have mentioned on here, there are lots of issues with how resting is currently implemented. Restrictions on the number of short rests you can take per long rest seem like they artificially boost or punish classes that care about short rests (warlock and monk). There don't seem to be any drawbacks to taking long rests. You can take a long rest as often as you like whenever you need to heal up and the world will wait for you.

I think these two issues could have a common solution. Make the world more dynamic. Make plotlines that you aren't actively watching play out while you're doing other things. Wait too long to resolve the issue with the druids and the tieflings and either the druids cast their spell or the tieflings get desperate and attack! Maybe after a few days, the goblins get reinforcements or they get too drunk and knock down a wall. Have caravans and scouting parties come and go. Have shopkeeps either sell out of the good stuff or maybe someone already sold them that shiny bauble that you've been carrying around, so they don't want yours anymore.

If you have actual days and nights pass and the world changes as they do, it means you can't do everything. You're going to miss opportunities and prioritizing what is important to you becomes more important. It makes the decision of "strike now, while I'm a little bit weak" or "grab a short rest and risk a random encounter" or "get a full night's sleep, but risk a tougher battle because enemy scouts might have spotted my camp and now they're on their guard" really interesting. This makes the world more dynamic and it makes your choices more important - you aren't just going to grind through the world and collect everything because the world isn't going to wait for you.