My group just hit level 5 in roughly the same time frame, so pretty close. Our combats have sped up as we get more comfortable with the game, so there’s that too. My players also love to roleplay, so we’ve had sessions where over half of the session is them interacting with the creatures they meet in the AP we’re running (Abomination Vaults) so as GM I lean into that stuff pretty heavily.Good to hear.
My campaign is going pretty slowly (only Lv 4 six months in) and no one has been dropped twice, so if that keeps up I suppose it shouldn't impact us either.
As @Thomas Shey said, the rule will mostly impact groups who are already struggling with the game’s style. Either the players need to work together better or the GM needs to recognize how the players in their game approach the game and adjust the challenge level appropriately. You don’t HAVE to run an AP as written, I’ve had to modify every single encounter except 1 because I’m running a game with 6 players. The system provides plenty of guidance in how to do this, which is why I push back on declaring it bad design. An unpopular rule clarification? Sure, it could end up being that based on the early online discussion around it.