We're all trying to beat the game, but the two groups you mentioned are wanting to beat different aspects of it. The group that loved the game as it was were the players who enjoyed the game world and were trying to beat that fictional world (which means self imposed limitations are acceptable), while the group wanting a harder game is trying to beat the game mechanics (therefore self imposed limitations aren't acceptable), and couldn't care less about the game world and the fact that this is an RPG.
^ this. the devs are chasing two rabbits if they start listening to both groups.
Just create a solid ruleset, and maybe put out a statement that the game is not designed to be "unbreakable," because there is always a way to exploit a game like this. No rpg that I know of is not nerfable by a player who wants to get bored really fast.
Just create a solid ruleset and implementation, and then tell players that it's not the devs fault if someone wants to trivialize the gameplay. That is the whole point of rolling characters: you try to figure out what would be fun or challenging or unique to play the game with.
Kids today. They don;t know how to pretend. They think every game is a speedrun competition.
