Wizards also had an eye for wanting to license this game into the CRPG market. So part of the changes had to do with making it easier to build a CRPG around the rules, which is one of the core reasons alignment was minimized.
I don't think this is correct. I agree with your point about CRPGs having different development strengths, but I think this is just a coincidence, and was not planned. There is a lot of evidence, going back years before 5E, that WotC has experienced an ideological purge that has led to high-level thematic decisions being made about several of their products. This is clearly the case with D&D, which has been "revised" thematically to appease certain cultural trends in areas besides Alignment. I don't believe that there was an intentional effort to appeal to computer programmers. I wish that computer licenses demanded that much attention, but I don't think they do, and even less so while 5E was being written.
From what I have observed Alignment works great at in person D&D sessions. It adds some flavor and interesting philosophical discussions.
An integral and classic part of the game. It also is very important for some mechanics and balance, which were not accounted for when it was "hidden."
There are many of us that are super excited about playing this amazing game for years to come.
I am one of them. I don't need it to be RAW to enjoy it for what it is. I have followed Sven's quest for the license, and I'm very excited.
With that being said, though, there are fine mechanical, thematic, and balance lessons that really should be taken from RAW since the work has already been done of innovating and iterating those parts of the game until they work really well. It's free game design. It is too early to judge the game, since it's in EA, but having followed DOS1 and DOS2 through their "beta" and eventual "finished" versions, it is fair to worry about Larian fixing some of these class and mechanical balancing issues. Are we going to end up with BG3: Conclusive Edition three years from now?
It would be super cool to see references or homages to things from BG1 and BG2, also, like an Alignment-type mechanic or other previous CRPG adaptations of D&D, but I am not expecting that to happen. This is the feedback and suggestion forum, after all!
