So why don't they start with hardcore 5e rules for the "hard" difficulty?
Then for "normal" difficulty lower the ACs, let everything be a bonus action etc.etc. whatever they think is more "fun".
For me fun is having to think in combat instead of merrily spam free and bonus actions and jump and cheese with a huge arsenal of Gouda.
We're probably more in agreement than you seem to think. I'm saying that having the game rules and systems work drastically differently based on difficulty level is a lot more work, because you need to test and balance all the difficulty levels. People will expect the eventual full release of a $60/$80 game to have all the difficulty levels properly tested and balanced.
