Conversion between states means nothing if the states can multiply endlessly. There needs to be conservation to prevent "something for nothing."

There is quite some room between that and strict conservation of "energy".

Energy is an abstraction dealing with information states. So one has to first define what is the instigator of state change..and what its state is. The whole thing is a self referential nightmare if you don't conserve. Any kind of constant bias will take hold if vast compute cycles pass. But I dont necessarily disagree with psuedo randomness like hidden cyclic variables and other types of statistic macroscopi conservation without strict micro conservation.

"whole thing is a self referential nightmare if you don't conserve"

Indeed and that is probably best to focus on. Conservation, should serve that goal first. And I think you will see that as you implement things you can let go of strict versions.