In reverse order, then:
Given that not everyone has the budget to implement a proper solution all by themselves, a patch option supported by the existing mechanics seems like it could be useful.
How the players behave is on them. If they go around routinely swinging what others consider excessive force, that could play out as a straight power fantasy (which for some is clearly the explicit goal, and if they're all having fun i see no problem there), a hook for social challenges and segue into overthrowing local governments, and/or a tragic morality play, depending on how the ST decides to follow up.
Lore says the vast majority of people in Creation - hell, the majority of dragon-blooded and sidereal exalts - aren't named Peleps Deled. Many of them aren't full members of the Wyld Hunt at all, and a few here and there don't even dedicate every waking moment to living by Immaculate ideals. An elite hit squad of element-bending fanatics in full power armor backed by a vast empire and the forces of Destiny itself is
meant to feel like a potential TPK; some thug who pulls a knife in a bar fight, not so much. Having the thug aim to leave a disfiguring scar or otherwise hold back rather than going straight for the jugular supports that distinction. Normal people could still be killed in that sort of fight: lethal wound in the incap box could roll over into dying if nobody bandages it in time, and even a scratch can get infected. Exalts are much safer from that kind of thing, but can still theoretically succumb to blood loss, or be finished off by some otherwise trivial problem (like smoke inhalation, hypothermia, or falling off a horse
Christopher Reeve - Wikipedia ) that manages to inflict a little bit of bashing damage before they recuperate.
As for historical research on individual killing intent, I ask that you consider part of the definition of Unacceptable Orders: Called shots to maim or otherwise limit injury are a tactical choice which it is possible for characters to make. If consistent use of that tactic produces a desirable result, in and out of character, where is the problem?
Have you ever, seriously, seen an otherwise tolerable player in an actual ongoing game of Exalted flip the table and storm out, or even
complain, on the grounds that their willing suspension of disbelief was shattered by the mere existence of an unfriendly NPC with an agenda more complex than, or in conflict with, bringing about the immediate death of all the PCs as efficiently as possible? Because, I gotta say, every time this facet of the paranoia combat argument comes up, the concept of a non-sociopathic baseline for NPC behavior, even when supported by setting lore and/or political game theory, seems to be treated like some alien pestilence that needs to be locked up in a level 4 lab with an on-site warhead.
I am by no means suggesting that highly-motivated lethal violence would never occur. Behavior of angry mobs, professional or otherwise, is in fact addressed at some length in the 2e corebook on p. 168, including odds of survival among the rank-and-file on the losing end of a battle.
