@mrfuji3, Maximuuus (RumRunner151) :
Larian must choose one default setting and optimise/balance around this. It's not solely because I'd rather want the artist to come forward with their very personal gaming proposition, and then evaluate whether I liked it or not. It's also because it's impossible to do otherwise. Many players have a very precise idea of where they want the game to truly be, of what should constitute the default game. They can argue forever that their vision is righter than that of others, but there will not be a consensus. And Larian cannot optimise for multiple settings at once (it's often mathematically impossible). So they have to choose one.
That is why Early Access cannot be about making the single best version of (everyone's idea of) the game : not all players agree of what this best version should be. Thus it can only be about helping the studio make the best version of their vision of the game.
Larian has to choose a limited number of settings to optimize balance around, correct. But not necessarily just one. I don't think creating balance for two game modes is an unreasonable ask: i.e.,
-"Normal difficulty" with the current set of Larian rules
-"5e Raw" with rules modified to be closer to D&D rules
This would be the ~same amount of work as creating a dedicated Tactician mode: a mode with better AI, more difficult fights, no?
@RumRunner151
I have a suggestion for your list: shared exp.
-Off: only PC gets exp and all party members are auto-leveled to match. This allows you to play a very difficult game if you choose to play solo, or very easy if you play with 6 characters.
-On: exp is divided between active party members. You level faster as a party of 1, slower as a party of 4+, which ~auto-balances encounters.
