I am a hardcore RPG fan even though I am not a very good player.
I like complex rules even if they give me problems sometimes and I think D:OS1+2 was a bit too simple for my taste (not game difficulty, I mean character creation complexity.)

As a fan of complex games I do not know what the average player thinks and how much complexity they want or at least accept.
But with the huge success of the original BG games, I think they can accept quite a lot.
BG1+2 were the first very complex games I have ever played and they made me a "hardcore fan". (Yes, one person is not representative for all players.)

RPGs are a niche genre, but I think that DnD is the mainstrem within this niche (or Pathfinder for those who still think that 3E was the best).
Personally I like the changes from 5E, but I can understand when extreme hardcore fans call it "dumped down" ( a term that I do not like at all, some people use it on everything they do not like) while "casual players" (whatever that is) call it too complicated.
Only time can tell who is right, but I think Larian did some market research before working on a new game.

groovy Prof. Dr. Dr. Mad S. Tist groovy

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Because there are too many people who work on artificial intelligence already :hihi: