Same, but it too is besides the point. I'm purely talking about player expectation of "faithful translation" being a hyperbolic self-imposed expectation that we as gamers often do (I fear I might be in that dangerous pool for Halo Infinite, biting nails in anticipation to not be disappointed) and using faint memories of statements where the context or details are long forgotten. I've provided the details and sources now, so you can make up your mind more clearly in a grounded way, so that our criticism can be genuine, instead of emotional or based on a fading memory. [...] So there's all sorts of criticisms I'd make too, and I don't disagree with you. I'm just trying to ensure that we're speaking the same language here, and not relying on inaccurate claims based on memory.
I don't think you can disentangle Larian's promise that they "ported it to video game format" first from the general expectations of BG3 set by Larian. It's part of their Full Statement™ on how well BG3 will match 5e RAW, and taken together it heavily implies that BG3 will be as close to 5e RAW as possible. That the vast majority of changed rules will be those that are un-fun or simply don't work in a video game.
So I suppose it's breaking the spirit of their words rather than the letter (except actually the letter of the specific "ported 5e rules video game first" sentence). Yes, they literally said that there would be modifications. But they also implied that they'd only modify 5e rules when necessary, which doesn't seem to be the case imo.
Can I sue Larian for false advertising? Absolutely not. Am I disappointed at many of the (imo needless) changes away from 5e they've made, which doesn't quite match the impression I had prior to EA release? Yes. But of course, as you say, the best way to advocate for any changes is to argue for why BG3 would be better if Mechanic X was changed.
p.s. I agree that the "Act" language is confusing, especially given that Larian map design naturally leads to considering a single theme-park location as one "Act."
