There was some debate in the forum about respawning during development. I don't know if the Larians ever consider respawning, but the general consensus from older forum members (who had been around since DD or BD) was that they would rather not have respawning, or at most have a gradual / natural movement of some types of creatures from hostile areas into the boarders of cleared areas. There was support for respawning, as well, especially from those used to MMOs or simple action RPGs.
Mods have been discussed and requested, but there has been no official word from Larian.
Is it modder-friendly?