I firmly disagree with this notion and I am deeply suspicious of accusations of "dumbing down" for mass appeal because I find it an inherently arrogant argument.
It's also kinda funny, since Baldur's Gate -- as a series -- has always been Entry Gate for 1st timers to RPGs. In their respective eras, they've always tried to appeal to the "masses". Strongly so. Now I do Like BG1+2. A whole bloody lot. But:
When BG was released in 1998, it wasn't exactly Darklands or Jagged Alliance or Realms Of Arkania. Bioware clearly aimed at the huge Diablo and RTS crowd also. The super easy control scheme was pretty much ripped off Warcraft. And in comparison to other RPGs of that era, their combat looked as actionish as Diablo. Their decision to go for a more action-based real-time (with pause) system was highly controversial, even though it paid off. They attracted players who'd prior had never touched an RPG even if you'd threatened to critical hit them on the spot.
By 1998 standards, Baldur's Gate was also a very pretty and good sounding game to boot. It had an "orchestrated" soundtrack and its backdrop visuals were unusual for that time, fully handcrafted and rendered rather than tile-based, making every area look unique, as opposed to built from a limited set of tiles/blocks (such as Diablo). In fact, for the people responsible for signing Bioware at Interplay, the latter played a big role.
BG2 marked the birth of Bioware as the "romance" and "cinematic" company (their engine's elaborate cinematics such as the repeating dream sequences were just limited by tech), attracting storyplayers who'd prior never touched an RPG likewise. After that, they just took a step further and shed all their D&D-ish roots, mission complete. Baldur's Gate has alwas been an Entry Gate for 1st timers to RPGs. And Bioware has been a company set up to appeal to large audiences since their very inception.
Or as Guido Henkel (formerly Attic and Interplay and the guy on Planscape Torment's box art) put it:
It is easy to glorify these games in retrospect with nostalgic glasses on, but the fact of the matter is that compared to many other games and genres, games like Star Trail simply did not nearly make as much money. As a result publishers turned their backs on these kinds of hard core games and instead went down the path of streamlined mainstream products, especially since Baldur’s Gate proved very clearly at the time that there is a market for light role-playing games.
