My impression from the quote is that what Max thinks when he said "day&night" circle is different then what I have seen most players ask for. In most RPGs I can think of day&night cycle is mostly cosmetics - background NPCs sometime change, and occasionally se quest might happen only in day or night, but overall it's just colour filter and environment sound change. What max describes here is a more robust simulations it system, which makes sense considering that systemic interactivity is a bedrock of their design.
Yeah that's fair enough. Still, despite a somewhat raw implementation no doubt limited by the tech of the time, BG2 had a day/night cycle whereby, for example, shops were closed at night. In essence, I really don't see how they wouldn't do something similar in BG3. Failing that, even a cosmetic day/night cycle would be preferable to the notion of playing an entire campaign in midday sun, it's just so utterly laughable.
CRPGs are best when they create atmosphere, immersion, drawing you into the game world, you need a sense of the real/mundane/everyday to keep you grounded in a world full of magic and monsters. Small things like weather and the passing of the day are intrinsic to this and I just cannot fathom how they don't deem it important.
