I think EA was mostly about funding the game and determining the public’s appetite for BG3. I don’t think we would be getting as massive a game without the dollars and buzz brought in from EA. It allowed Larian to justify expanding enough to put their all into this game.
I also think, as other have said, it was about general feedback. They have testers (not us) to find bugs and give specific feedback on mechanics. That wanted to know from us if the game was fun, if we were liking the characters and story, and if we planned to keep playing.
It could be that a lot of the feedback they’ve received from testers and focus groups is that the game is too overwhelming/complicated at the start, hence trying to simplify things in character creation. Most people here are familiar with DND or have been dedicated enough to learn the mechanics. A lot of people probably would find the game too frustrating to learn. I’m going to attempt a multiplayer game with my husband and I can just imagine his eyes glazing over when I try to explain how things work.
As much as people here complain about things like Shove, there are a lot of people who enjoy how powerful it is and that it is a Bonus Action and don’t care that it isn’t accurate to 5e. It seems Larian’s philosophy is less about “is it overpowered” and more “is it fun?” Which is totally valid for a video game IMO.
I think Larian is also smart enough to know that the hardcore players that want a faithful 5e experience will find mods to make it happen. Everyone else won’t really care about the deviations.
