Not gonna reveal my personal stats sorry Veronica.
What I got reading the forums is the same feeling I had reading around about a lot of things related to freedom: to contain your self and avoid a due action is saw as self handicaping thus restrictions are asked.
We have barrels than can be used in battle? Lets get rid of them because to make the choice, made by themselves, to not use them is saw as a form of self hurting (so it's better if someone else does the choice for us).
We have the chance to save before pickpocketing or lockpicking or a dialogue? Lets get rid of that because the choice, made by themselves, to not use that trick is saw a form of self handicapping (so it's better if someone else does the choice for us).
I'm a fan of the "story mode" difficulty level. As I said before I already have a stressful job so I don't want a game to become as demanding as my job. A reason I became an expert in searching cheats and tricks and walkthroughs. And when I decide I don't wanna exploit something I don't feel like I'm hurting myself instead I'm proud I was able to make a choice that allows myself to enjoy a more complex problem.
On another topic, Larian would be foolish to make Baldur's Gate III early access more easier or more difficult, because in both cases it would mean to alienate a part of players.
Balance, real balance, can and should be asked when they release the full game, that is a version that supposedly will have difficulty levels able to please the broad audience of players (something I feel a lot of posters tend to forgot when they go full "I want this eliminate/modified/added becaus to my personal playstyle this doesn't function as agreable as I want" whether they ask for elimination of anything that can be used to have easier fights or of anything that is seen as making the game too difficult).
As I see the game it has flaws (like the fact that wizards can learn cleric specific spells, or that everybody can lockpick or pickpocket when that should be a feat that follows a precise hierarchy (from the one with the higher rate of succes to the one with the lower): rogues, rangers with high dexterity and criminal or runaway background, rangers with high dexterity, caracthers of other classes with criminal or runaway backgrounds, other carachters) and not because of the save/reload but because the chance of a succesful pickpocketing is almost the same for anyone), dialogue incoherences (if I already have killed priestess Gut why the dialogue with Goblin Sazza still have the leading character asking who is Gut and if she can cure the tadpole situation, why Nettie has to poison my toon before the "ehy dear I know where halsin is" option appears and a different set of phrases to obtain the Wyvern poison? and so on), but it is flexible, if you want a hardship battle you can try to kill the Hag before reaching level 4 (and without using barrels), but you can also level up your party to level 4 and have easier fights, with a bit of attention you can eradicate the goblin camp without startin one endless complicate fight (and without the need of barrels or high stand or backstab or pushing over the cliffs).
As I said I'll wait for the full release to see if Larian will put on difficulty levels and how they play with easy and normal (not so skilled nor willing to try hard and nightmare options).
