I'd consider removing the resting system as it stands right now completely, and instead, make it a narrative tool and for pacing, as a DM would. [...] Where any other attempt to have a rest, the player "asks the DM" by hitting the usual Go To Camp button for the DM to determine if they qualify or not. If they don't, the companions would instead have a voice bark (saying a comment as they do sometimes in world, Larian calls these voice barks), saying they're not ready to rest yet, they should go talk to that guy in town while they know for sure he's there - Or whichever other clue is relevant to the next objective unlocking next rest session.
Or something like that. Not fully fleshed out, but the gist is I think D&D in video games will always be limited by not having a live DM, it will play differently because of it no matter what. So some systems may be either superficial or be impossible to make right because of it simply having been designed with a tabletop format in mind, with real human minds improvising and adapting on the spot, without computer software limitations.
True, a big problem with BG3 is that there is no real-time DM, and BG3's flexibility in exploration (which is a
great thing that should not be removed) prevents Larian from doing much planning ahead. As Jandk even mentioned before, they can't universally limit you to X encounters per long rest because players will do easier or harder quests out of order. At least outside of dungeons where the entrance locks behind you they can't. There is a good solution between the current "no restrictions" and super strict limit of "every X encounters" no matter which imo.
Something I suggested before (and which was kinda widely hated lmao) was that companions show some disapproval if you attempt to long rest too frequently. Lae'zel urgently wants to reach the Creche before she turns into a mind flayer; why would she be perfectly content with the party taking a long rest every hour? This is a compromise, where you are
disincentivized to long rest too frequently, but not
restricted from doing so. Another suggestion I've heard is that companions gain a level of exhaustion at some point, and until at least one companion gets this condition you're unable to rest because the party isn't tired enough.
But of course, determining the threshold for this disapproval or exhaustion is the big question, as is for every possible long rest system. Do you get a long rest opportunity at specific story-beats? At every X, Larian-determined "important events/locations"? Base it on total hp lost of the party - if so how much? At certain locations on the map? Pros and cons to each.
