I agree that the resource management piece is important. I'm fine with having hard limitations on long rests, but without a solid day/night system (which is not a small undertaking), it's difficult to think what those restrictions would be. My thought was to replace those hard limitations with increasing risks - so you can rest whenever you want, but resting a lot in the same area without getting interrupted becomes increasingly difficult so you have to be careful about when/where you choose to rest.
The solution is definitely going to be adding a cost or a risk to long rest. I'll probably enjoy whichever option Larian chooses, I'm that kind of gamer.
I was focused on which option would maintain mass appeal. It's usually easier for players (not familiar with RPGs) to handle a cost versus a risk.
