Disclaimer: After completing 2 full playthroughs of BG3 EA I think I can safely say I like the game quite a lot (and I'm someone who doesn't like turn based RPGs) but I also think there's room for improvement. One of the issues I have is that I think the game has a pretty huge problem with the the infamous "5 minute adventuring day" issue.
The meaning of the notion: As those who play tabletop D&D undoubtedly know, the "5 minute adventuring day" issue is the situation that happens when (usually inexperienced) DMs allow parties to rest more frequently than they should. This is a problem because the game is supposed to be ballanced around the party having having from 6 to 8 encounters per day forcing players to manage their resources to stay effective during the adventuring day instead of buring all of their rechargeable powers (i.e. "going nova") even when faced with minor encounters and then resting. This is also an issue because certain classes like the fighter and to a lesser extent the rogue are meant to be more reliable than others who instead enjoy stronger "power surges".
The issue in BG3: After playing the game for a considerable amount of time and testing things a little I found out 2 things. (1) You can successfully manage your resources and have several consecutive encounters in BG3 without being forced to resort to a long rest. (2) There's pratically no incentive of any kind to do so, as resting after each encounter makes you way more effective in combat because you can burn all of your rechargeable powers in one go without consequence.
Why it is a problem: Again, 2 reasons. (1) This kind of "playstyle" risk destroying suspension of disbelief as your party of adventurers supposedly on a urgent timeframe (having time bombs set into their brains) wastes days at camp after every minor skirmish, which is admittedly not a very heroic behaviour and makes little sense considering they don't know how much time they have before turning into mind flayers. (2) This risks making some classes like the fighter difficult or even impossible to ballance when compared with other classes covering similar roles, namely the barbarian and the paladin, because those classes have abilities that allow them to greatly outperform fighters on the span of the single encounter (rage and divine smite are the powers that make these classes become better fighters than the fighter on the span of a short adventuring day).
How can the problem be solved?: I have 3 suggestions. 1. Introduce more areas where resting is impossible as you did with auntie Ethel's dungeon. If a player is forced to backtrack for a long time and has to invest time doing so he's less likely to just run out rest and come back. If they do so anyway consider respawning monsters into the area, reducing (or not giving) xp for their defeat. 2. Make time count. Again, this is already partially in the game as seen with the events of Waukeen rest. If players rest before completing a time sensitive mission consequences should be a given soing as far as causing sidequests to fail and main quest to incur into setbacks and complications. 3. Make resting at camp less secure than it is now. Set a counter on the number of times certain parties rest and make those who spend way too much time at camp more likely to be attacked losing the benefits of rest altogether. Also, make resting from more dangerous zones like the putrid bog or the underdark more dangerous than doing so from a safe zone like Silvanus Grove or the Goblin Camp (as long as you are on friendly terms with the denziens, of course).
I believe that by implementing these changes the game will become more well rounded and offer a better experience over all, but I'd love to hear from other players here if they had the same experience as me and if they think resting after every encounter is a problem or not for BG3.
