I completely agree with the OP and as he shows the 'small' 'fun' changes that Larian made affect the game extremely. Add to that the encounter design based on it and watching Swen playing during the panel and you see how broken their game design is. To the point that i honestly have to say its bad gameplay design that I would not expect from experienced professionals.

Sadly, watching Swen during their show, I don't see them changing anything in this regard because its 'fun' for him.