Okay, I'm gonna take a leap into the lion's den, here.

Having played both the originals and the EEs (not including SoD), what exactly is it about the EEs that ticks people off so badly? I honestly haven't found any noticeable differences between the EEs and BG2/Tutu....

*squints*. You are joking, yes? Simple screen shots show some pretty large differences in the interface alone.

I'm not going to try and list more here, but I will say that Beamdog's actions outside the products themselves haven't endeared the company to a number of gamers.

Then you are totally blind.

Background are blurry.
New items (and characters from what I've read) don't fit with the vanilla. In the vanilla game a +1 weapon cost at least 1000 gold, in EE you could get some much cheaper (50 gold, I think), which make a mockery of the whole Iron Crisis.
And the mod that really makes you feel the Iron Crisis - Hard Times - is not available for EE.

In essence it's just an overpriced patch.

Then I suggest you get some really thick glasses. You are going blind.

Let's cool it with the personal insults, ok?
Have a downvote

Wow. And the funniest thing is that it is now 2018 and you guys are STILL using the same "triggered" and "SJW" memes. Sad that so many of today's youth get their political educations from 4Chan/RPG Codex.

The second funniest thing is that the "SJW" insult was originally directed at anyone expressing a moral and/or political view in reaction to immoral actions, as if this were so frequent that you kids just got fed up but the first political comment in almost any thread about games I have seen comes from Conservatards. Long before anyone generally says anything that you would equate to "social justice" there will be three people ranting about "SJWs" or some such.

Was it really necessary to resurrect a topic that has been quiet for nearly 3 weeks, to reply to a post that is 4 months old, simply to insult said poster?

You have to admit, "conservatard" is a big improvement over SJW. ;p

Trolls will be trolls.