Maybe this was a clever negotiation tactic. Deviate so far from D&D rules that every time they change something back people are grateful.
I enjoy believing this is what happened with the Sonic the Hedgehog Movie - Make something obviously bad, with no intention of using it - Get lots of negative press coverage ("any press is good press") - "Fix" it to something that's better (and that you always planned on using) - Get incredible acclaim, benefiting from both the original negative press and people now feeling like they must watch the movie to support the fact that the devs listened. - Profit immensely
Regardless, good job Larian for going back on some of your OP homebrew. Keep it up.
