Maked perfect sense to me in its first way ...
NPCs had an inventory ... we could trade with them, steal from them, or loot them when killed ... it was immersive, logical, and over all it just maked sense ... but people disliked it.
So instead we have items that automaticly de/materialize, when their owner heart stop beating ... i have no idea how, when, or why anyone would concider it better ... but here we are anyway. :-/
Both approaches are valid, it just whatever path one picks it needs to be well utilised. I never play murder hobos so it’s part of the game I have no experience with.
Classic Tim Cain RPG handled this stuff rather beautifully. I remember the shopkeeper in Arcanum had his own stick hidden in a locked backroom. With high enough lockpicking skill you could steal all of his stuff. OP you could say, but this lockpicking skill would come at a cost of being good in other areas like combat or social skills.
I can see it being an issue in BG3 though if from instrumental play point of view (I want that gear, what’s the best way to get this gear) killing a vendor ends up being the best option majority of time.
Whatever Larian does they need to tighten their design up. Non-lethal specifically requires either lots of attention or needs be removed, if the game won’t support it properly.
