I will post this post here and then answer that post with a new post down below it.
Originally Posted by mrfuji3
For the record, these are things that Swen has said:

From https://www.pcgamesn.com/baldurs-gate-3/larian-interview
Originally Posted by Swen
"BG3 is based on the fifth edition [of D&D]. We started by setting out the ruleset very meticulously, and then seeing what worked and what didn’t work – because it is a videogame, and D&D was made to play as a tabletop game. So for the things that didn’t work, we came up with solutions."

In a different link (https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019...-turn-based-rpgs-and-dreams-coming-true/) Swen's words are reported as:
Originally Posted by Swen
"We started by taking the ruleset that's in the Player's Handbook. We ported it as faithfully as we could, then there were some number of things that we saw that doesn't work that well, and so we started looking for solutions to do that...."

Another: https://venturebeat.com/2019/06/06/...es-place-after-dds-descent-into-avernus/
Originally Posted by Swen
“We started with a very rigorous port of the ruleset. Then we started looking at what worked and what didn’t work. Because obviously, it’s a video game, so not everything translates very well. We modified where it made sense to start modifying,” Vincke said.

The argument is that obviously Larian/Swen didn't begin with a faithful (& "very meticulous" & "very rigorous") port of the rules, because there are many 5e mechanics not originally present in BG3 that do work well in Solasta. Eg., reactions and ready actions, as well as having dodge/disengage/hide be full actions. Plus more.
So either:
- Larian is lying, and they didn't begin with a faithful, meticulous, and rigorous implementation of 5e before changing things that didn't work.
- Larian has deluded themselves, believing they began with a faithful implementation when in reality they didn't.
- Larian did begin with a truly faithful adaptation, but is too set in its ways and thus removed/modified many 5e mechanics that successfully worked in Solasta, but that didn't match with Larian's idea of good.

This last point isn't bad by itself; BG3 and Solasta are different games so it isn't necessarily true that what's good in one game is good in the other. But EA began with cantrips creating surfaces, which Larian then realized was a bad idea. Did Larian really begin with 5e rules, change cantrips to creating surfaces, and then change them back after the overwhelmingly negative feedback? Or did Larian skip that first step and start with surface-creating cantrips because surfaces is what they know? And if Larian started with a meticulous implementation of 5e, where is the "dodge" action?