I just hate that so many companion moments are missed by players because the game does such an awful job telegraphing that you won’t turn into a mindflayer if you rest. From a mechanics perspective I don’t particularly care but from a narrative perspective it drives me up the wall. They should really have a moment where you’re forced to rest that clarifies this.
That said, I’m in favor of fixed campsites you rest at, or, failing that, the suggestion to use waystones for long rests. Fixed campsites might help with scripting companion events as well, as right now even if you do rest often you can randomly miss out in certain scenes.
Timed quests could work if the day/night cycle was tied to when you camp, rather than a constantly ticking timer, because it puts the agency of time passing in the hands of the player. If it’s a day/night cycle like bg1/2 then I would be less in favor of timed quests.
That said the thing that bothers me about this game is that it is possible for time to pass (mirkon and arabella can both die; you can miss out on the waukeen’s rest event) but the game poorly telegraphs it. Either have time pass or don’t, I don’t like this weird middle ground they seem to be going for (the da example you used tied camping to the over world map which is why it was effective).
I’ll also add that I find the idea of random fights when you camp incredibly unappealing. Maybe if you camp in a dangerous area but that’s about the extent of it.
