Now im confused ...
You have all the power in the world to enforce your way of play ...
Yet you confess that you would not use it, when people would decide to disobey your wish ...
And yet you concider granting that wish for everyone, no matter if they wanted it or not ... to be good thing in general? O_o
I spent 15 years as a Raid Leader and Guild Leader/Officer in various Guilds. So to me kicking someone is a path of last resort and not one I enforce on a whim. At the end of the day if someone wants to be a certain way I am not going to micromanage them, I don't have the time or inclination. I just won't invite them back. They can organize their own 40-man Raid. Good luck with that.
The Barrelmancy thing - in my eyes- is at this point mostly solved. So if they made no further changes I wouldn't be too concerned. But in answer to your questions I really DON'T want to enforce my will on anyone, but I also don't want Barrelmancy in any of my games.
There are good, logical ways to defend why it shouldn't exist. We have covered how it breaks the game and allows you to bypass all ability use. Also that it is not covered by any rule in the PHB which would allow it. And finally that its physically impossible to add a 300 LB / 130 KG Barrel to a backpack, let alone feasibly carry even one.
One other thing I have learned in 15 years as a Raid Leader is that
MOST humans, except the most extraordinary, will always seek the path of least resistance. It is only the most incredible and rare people that see a challenge as a gift to teach them and make them stronger. But that's a longer discussion of why we game in the first place, is it to consume time, or to provide mental stimulation, or to challenge yourself in some way?
As it stands Barrelmancy is an old piece of nonsense that Larian is being a bit sentimental about.
But you know - another way to solve it would have been to add a toggle. That could have been done at any time. Hand to God I would have been fine with it.
