I honestly don't know how else they are going to handle Long rest spamming unless they just remove restrictions altogether and say forget it. If players want to spam then let them. Just know we're building encounters around the concept that you won't actually spam long rest, so of the game is too easy, you are probably spamming after every fight.
I hardly ever rest. I have to remind myself to do it sometimes, just to kick in story elements. The reason I mention this is to say that I don't think the game is particularly hard at the moment. In the sense that I don't think you actually need much resting to get through the game as it is right now.
Sure, there are some fights that are harder than others, but those tend to be fights I win by relying more on consumables, potions and such. I should note: I don't use barrels, ever. I'm fine with barrels being in the game, I just never get around to feeling like I need to use them.
