Every game is kinda supposed to be like a Movie right?
How would you feel if you watch LotR for example and Aragorn or Frodo have to "backtrack" a 10 times between each kind of "camp" for selling just because they picked up so much stuff and cannot carry any more?
Please don't.
No one wants to see that in a Movie.
I disagree that RPGs are supposed to emulate films. Especially a D&D based RPG. D&D is, in large part, a simulation, and a simulation requires a certain level of in-world consistency/believability that comes at the expense of convenience. The great thing about D&D is that it can mingle moments of (tedious) realism, such as having to backtrack to a town because you forgot to buy a revivify diamond, with epic high fantasy cinematic moments such as battles, heists and prison-breaks. Obviously there are limits: people don't want to be forced to take a shit, or suffer mechanical penalties for not shitting. Additionally, BG3 is a video game and you can't account for everything like you can in a ttrpg (even if winging it). But the fact is, fast travel like this detracts from the scale and immersion of the world. Not to mention stepping on the toes of high level spells like Teleportation Circle. I think games have the opportunity to pull off a better balance between believability/immersion and action/narrative than a film because you are actually forced to embody the in-between moments that would detract from a film or even book's pacing. Maybe that says more about why I enjoy RPGs: not to play an interactive film but to embody a small element of a fictional world.
I think the best solution that keeps both the immersion-is-king crowd and the backtracking-is-the-devil crowd happy is to only allow fast travel whilst near a waypoint. This maintains a sense of realism and journey, whilst still cutting down on the amount of time spent tabbed whilst you wait for your party to reach it's destination. I also loved the idea someone had (sorry I can't remember your name) of using the world map as our fast-travelling interface to evoke more of the BG1 & 2 feel, whilst also getting rid of the poorly incorporated teleportation runes that do more harm than good to world-building.
I do think it's quite telling that Larian have skimped out on some of the more immersive aspects of the game such as resting, day/night and travel. Or perhaps more telling of my own expectations of a D&D based game.
