Although I don't 100% disagree, I mostly disagree. I mean, you are right. It is reasonable to force a rest. I agree that the characters have been through a lot and there is no mention of just how long they have been awake prior to the events of Day 1.
Still, I'm not sure I'd be able to rest well knowing I have that thing in my brain. I also don't think I'd rest well especially if I triggered the scene where I watched the person in the pod getting changed into a Mind Flayer right before my eyes. I'd probably push myself harder in an attempt to find a healer. I'd have desperation driving me hard especially if after short resting twice I still have good HP and spell slots. Again, it's only been maybe 2 hours of gameplay at most even according to the Dialogue Log, so it's not hard to believe that I could still be pushing myself a bit further before needing to Long Rest.
And, again, when I was a brand new player, the first time I played this game I did this exact same thing. I thought, "Oh HECK no! Did you see that nasty thing they put in my brain? I'm getting this thing out as soon as possible. I'm afraid if I rest too much I'm going to turn into a Mind Flayer." And then, after Gale described it in great detail, and Lae'zel too!...I was like, "Oh HEEEEEEEECK no! This game's clearly going to turn me into a Mind Flayer if I Long Rest too much." Back then, I had no idea I could Long Rest however many times I wanted without repercussions.
So I'm thinking about the First-Time Player here as well as myself. It is natural for a First-Time Player to think that they shouldn't rest much or they are going to turn into a Mind Flayer. At least, I'd think it would be. Maybe it's just me.
Regardless of whether I'm in the minority on this or the majority, shouldn't they design it to meet the needs of the minority too? What does it hurt those who Long Rest often if they que up dialogues so that whenever you Long Rest you experience them in some sort of order. Each long rest triggers 1 or more dialogues, depending on how many you have qued up prior to Long Resting? You still get your dialogues if you Long Rest a bunch of times prior to the Druid's Grove, and you still get your dialogues if you push yourself to Long Rest after you've gotten through the Druid's Grove or even longer if you can push yourself longer?
So I still don't get why people resist the idea of untying the dialogue from Long Resting so that you don't have to Long Rest a ton of times prior to when you really NEED to Long Rest. What's the point of Short Rests at all if you FORCE people to Long Rest all the time. The entire idea of Long Rest and Short Rests and Healing Items is for players to strategically manage their resources. If you allow people to abuse the Long Rest, and even FORCE them to abuse the Long Rest, then you don't really need all those healing items and potions and Short Rests are really not necessary anymore. All of it is meaningless and just useless unless you limit and discourage Long Rests. Right now, though, Long Rests are heavily encouraged, and you want to force them to Long Rest as well.
Yeah. No. I think that would make things worse.
