I would class this as low hanging fruit, meaning that the feature we want (access to the full Char Creation screen while playing) already exists and it's just a matter of them handing over the keys there. Presenting it as an either/or is a false choice.
It probably took more resources for them to gate the Withers respec to only Class than it would to just give us the full "edit character" and "edit appearance" features.
Respecing by Class and Abilities is convenient, but it's strange that they would allow us to change that stuff but not our Appearance or our Name, especially since the latter is easy to imagine. Either could be imagined in a way that makes narrative sense if that's what's important to you, but honestly how they could allow us to change abilities but not our haircut or voice, that's silly.
Currently on the standard difficulty setting, for 100 gold you can alter your abilities/skills/known spells etc (basically all the stats) to suit your equipment at any point in the campaign. That's a lot more than you're likely to get at the table. I mean it's pretty different than showing up at a session with a flashy new portrait. If you wanted to change your stat spread mid campaign cause you just found a boss pair of gloves that raise your Dexterity to 18, and now you want to make Dex your dump stat to juice your other abilities, the DM would balk.
Computer play is different though, I think many single players would happily suspend disbelief rather than re-run the prologue and act one, knowing they'll probably use the same face and make all the same choices. Or in a multiplayer context, where you're trying for a loadout that will match the needs of the group, and where this might change session to session, since MP here is like open invitation to an ongoing campaign.
Are there other things they could be doing? Sure
Space bar should not be the default button to end turn in combat. If it's used to skip cutscenes and dialog etc. Skip turn in combat should have a double confirmation. The game should have a pause feature. Even if it doesn't actually work, it should still mute the sound and gray out the field of view, or do the things that are generally expected. I shouldn't have to navigate through a menu to do this, or turn off my monitor or hit mute, there should be a time out here, like all games. When expanding the hotbar this should add a blank row at the bottom, but not alter the default position of all the action icons. Hotbar Options should allow us to extend the bar or move the elements on either side of the main hotbar (the round status portrait and the end turn) etc. etc. etc.
I'm sure they're combing the boards, and we'll have a lot of rehashing of subject raised in EA. But when it comes to character creation stuff, these are zots that are always well spent.
We should be able to adjust our avatar/voice/portrait/name all the features of the Character Creator which are purely cosmetic at any point from our character sheet.When viewing the character sheet in full, this should be a screen similar to the character creation or lvl up screen rather than the avatar/inventory screen. The environment lighting should key off the current area, and we should be able to see all the stats tabs at once from that view. Summary Skills and Detailed view etc all up at once. We should be able to enter a full screen view for the Spellbook and the Inventory from the Character sheet view and have those display and use the entire screen just for that. Class Spells, Common, Reactions should all display together, all tabs up at once when we click to view in full. Party is fine for quick management, but the expanded views should feel more expansive and use more of the screen real estate. etc. etc. etc.
