I don't think Larian can ever develop a functional exhaustion or restricted rest based resource management system. And Exhaustion can't exist as long as Long Rest is a free ability reset button.
They have decided that CRPG's need to function on a per encounter basis, like DOS[...]
Please prove me wrong. I would love Exhaustion and restricted Long Rest in the game. I want to be rewarded for smart resource management and knowing when to use my spells and abilities.
Without changing the LR system (which I agree that Larian won't do at this point, or will do poorly like the food system), exhaustion would have to be a per-combat thing, where you risk getting multiple levels of exhaustion in a single encounter.
E.g., Barbarian's Frenzy attack could cause a level of exhaustion, essentially turning it into a up-to-5 times per combat ability, with stronger penalties the more times it is used.
An enemy's attack could have characters make a Con ST or take a level of exhaustion.
An item could induce exhaustion each time it is used.
In these cases, without adding LR restrictions, a long rest would then have to cure multiple levels of exhaustion or it'd just be tedious to LR multiple times in a row. Perhaps a short rest would restore 1 level of exhaustion.
