Hi there!
So I've seen this topic come up once or twice on the forum, but I've never seen the topic of leaving the developer console in the game properly argued for - so my goal is to break down the pros of leaving it in the game, and how it could be better implemented. Quick disclaimer, a lot of the points I make are assumptions, and I'm sure they've been considered before.
Firstly, why leave the console in? I'd like to argue for 2 main reasons:
Reason number 1 - It allows modders to more accurately test their mods in a large variety of scenarios quickly - by being able to add/ take away skills, skill points, gear and so forth. Being able to spawn items, edit skill points, buffs and de-buffs is essential in a case where a difficulty mod is being made - or a scaling mod for level scaling enemies, or perhaps a mod which perpetually spawns different enemies in place of the old ones. Now, I don't know what modding tools Larian is providing, and if such functionally will already be implemented. I'm simply going off the assumption that such mods might get created, and that this would aid in their balancing/play-testing process.
Reason number 2 - prevent cheaters. Yes, you read that right. Leaving the console in the game would actually discourage people to go and download/buy third party trainers. With the recent shut-down of the cheat engine forums, paid trainers are becoming more and more prevalent. However - as hex editors - they are limited in their capacity, and can most of the time be completely outclassed by the implementation of the developer console with a larger host of options. You might be thinking, "What's the difference between using a hex editor and typing in console commands?" The answer to the question is as follows: when implementing the console, the developers can lock out both steam achievements, and the use of online multiplayer with that character. By providing tools which are better than those you can get online, they're not only decreasing the amount of cheaters which use third party software, but also restricting the cheating to single-player, which in a CRPG is most likely to be the most prevalent type of cheating anyway.
Stemming from the last segment of reason 2, I'll re-iterate on my suggestion for the implementation - simply disable multi-player and steam achievements.
The two arguments I presented are the only concrete arguments a game developer would consider - which still leaves a large amount of people, who just like to have fun with the console commands. Add the late game weapons, get all the cool spells - etc. It might not be Larian's vision of the DOS2 experience, but those players do, and will exist. Better they use the systems provided by the developer rather than third party trainers, but that's just my opinion.
Anyway, I hope I've been articulate enough in making my points. If you've got your own ideas, either for or against console commands, I'd love to know!
