How do we know they "bent the knee to fans"?
It seems more like natural iteration changing Wyll and Daisy after getting player reactions to them. Neither worked so they had to be improved.
The change to tadpole powers seems to come from their own systems devs who wanted more systems because D&D is "too boring". I really hate the massive focus on gross Illithid tadpoles inside your head in this story. You don't need them as a plot device to give Tav forced motivation to be with or against the Absolute after Act II either. Being a hero or villain in the events you are tangled up with is motivation enough in itself. If someone is "bending the knee" I think it's writers to gameplay devs at Larian. Previous D&D CRPGS by Obsidian or old Bioware didn't have or need layers and layers of more boombastic added to D&D gameplay. Extensively tampering with the 5e rules and adding tons of unnecessary things is all Larian devs who proudly refuse to bend the knee to D&D fans.
What we do know, is that a lot of D&D fans have asked for the game to play more like D&D and less according to generic video game design principles taught in video game school. But they haven't bent the knee, or even included a D&D Core Rules difficulty, which is present in every other D&D CRPG. Instead, they have Tactician, where enemies have cheaty advantages and more bombs.
