Thief's traps (especially Spiked) were the barrel exploits of BG2.
They basically broke the system as enemies had no defenses against them (bypassed ACs, saves, any spells, etc). It required no resource (just need to rest), and just like barrels and explosives, you can even do it right in front of the enemies and they'll do nothing to stop you if not aggro'ed. Demogorgon? Traps. Firkraag? Traps. Final Irenicus fights? Traps.
It's actually uncanny how similar some of the exploits are. I.e. you can exploit dialogue in BG3/DOS by having 1 character lock the enemy in dialogue while you position the team advantageously ahead of a fight. In BG2, you can exploit exploit the dialogue by repeatedly "pausing and talking" to keep your target neutral while you stab it repeatedly.
BG2 is absolutely loaded with broken exploits and implementations (i.e. simulacrums cloning items, infinite damage via reflecting Lightning Bolts or Agannazar's Scorcher, staff of the magi's equip-invisibility). Because the "game world" had no object interactivity, there's no physics engine, etc, most exploits are at least attached to a "class or item ability", so that's why people find it easier to stomach?
The reason people find it easier to stomach is that they are products of their times, and standards and expectations have changed in the twenty years since their release.
I don't agree that modern RPGs have a different standard - I feel like exploits are inherent in any games with complex systems and a high number of interactions. And we see that with tons of modern RPGs. Whether it be abilities and spells, environment objects/actions, as long as there are sufficient options, people will find a way to combine and exploit it.
The question is more so whether the developers aggressively patch them out when discovered, or simply embrace them. And honestly, for single player RPGs, I've seen the developers lean way more into embracing the cheese instead of removing it. For example, if we look at a couple of DOS2/BG3's contemporaries (some of my favorite games):
Pillars of Eternity 2:
I think this series gets a bad rep for being "too balanced", when tons of broken exploits exist. Stealth + Auto-heal out of combat means you can cheese almost any encounter by witling down enemy forces 1 by 1 while resetting. You can achieve immortality and unlimited resources through the basic Wall of Draining/Salvation of Time + Brilliant Inspiration loops. The entire game is designed around no pre-buffing, but you can also easily work around that with the Magran belt + Rakhan Field boots - allowing you to solo Megabosses in seconds (normally a 10-30 minute endeavor). Instead of patching these things out though, Obsidian actually embraced it and turned it into a max-difficulty solo-run contest (The Ultimate), which I thought was brilliant and a great celebration of the game.
Pathfinder KM/WoTR:
These games are both loaded with exploits, but they work because of Owlcat's philosophy to basically embrace OPness in all aspects of the game. The Mythic paths introduced in WoTR double downs on this in terms of brokenness. Enemies are simply overtuned to match up against spells and class abilities implemented without PnP limits - i.e. tons of "illegal" stacking (smites, natural attacks, haste + speed, magical vestiment, etc), or AOE effects stacking and infinity damage with Cave Fangs. But none of that feels too egregious because a normal Kineticist with Deadly Earth is just as broken. The current option to switch between RTWP and Turnbase mid-fight is completely broken and cheesable too (you can use it to basically deny the enemy all their turns). However, it's clear that Owlcat would prefer to give players freedom and allow for exploits, rather than restricting that for the sake of "balance".
