I think a lot of the response is similar to what was posted in the article, at least from the Forum group as I have read it. I started playing the game late last month So I am new to the game and to the forum. I was a huge fan of the original BG and BG2, played the expansions as well, and that 1.5 digital expansion that was put out a few years ago (Dragonspear?). I have played DnD since 93 or 94, and have played every edition of the game but started in second edition and played most heavily in 3.5. I started because I had played some of the earlier computer games, namely the Eye of the Beholder trilogy. I have never played any of Larians other games. My synopsis of the game and surrounding information and forums:

The forums are not nearly as toxic as others I have been on. About a quarter to a tenth of the level of toxicity as BG 1.5 had depending on when you stepped into either forum, and even that wasnt near as bad as to some ccg forums ive been in.

BG 3 will never have the feel of BG1 or 2 its a different map system, rule edition, and storyline. It is not bad, but it doesnt rely on rolls for the bulk of the game more or less than the original (maybe a less on story/character interaction) It still has most of the feel of a DnD/BG game but it is missing a few elements to me
- No rolling for characters (yet?), i know its a fifth edition thing and a balance of power thing in multiplayer groups, understand it but just losses some feel
- actual turn based actions feels more like DnD but not so much BG combat
- I miss Minsc and boo, but I understand its a different time, so he might not be around, and even if you made minsc, if you didnt get Jim Cummings doing the voice work then you would get angry people missing their nostalgia.
- I dont necessarily miss random encounters
- Spellcasters that dont have fireball dilute the feeling of spellcasting classes (should be better when levels increase)
- Cant form a full and balanced party without having someone who feels out of place for good or evil alignment
- I kind of miss the hunger issues found in a lot of older DnD games where you could starve. It would seem this might be something that could be added later with all the food found around the world

5'9 is actually tall for the world average and I want to say average for most editions' height generation tables

The only thing that really annoys me is buying and selling, my computer seems to lag during barter so I am stuck selling one at a time and the gold values dont match the merchant prices, I wouldnt mind so much if what we saw was an intuition roll to guess the price or if there was a way to haggle the merchants down, or if it was simply the merchants could be asked about their gouging and reply there is a scarcity due to a run on supplies because of the crash/refugees/goblin raids/whatever.