It's actually in reference to the fact that it's pretty taboo to use those colors in your post if you're not actually speaking as a mod, because that can create some confusion. You might not've been aware, though. So I'm going to ask you kindly to stop doing that with the colors. Ideally, you should go back and edit your posts to remove the colors, too.
Now that that's out of the way...
Then you're missing the nuance between "Default" and "Average," and the space that recognizing that difference opens up.
If you're just providing a pre-packaged product, it can be useful to assume that the "average" and the "default" are the same thing. But D&D isn't in the business of delivering a generic prepackaged product. D&D has always been tremendously local and personal. It's always been a DM-controlled experience.
Toy Analogy Time: D&D has been in the business of selling LEGOs, not selling plastic castles.
Car Analogy Time: D&D has been in the business of selling car parts, not selling new automobiles.
Food Analogy Time: D&D has been in the business of selling recipes and ingredients, not selling prepared food.
Computer Analogy Time: D&D has been in the business of selling processors, not building you a Macbook.
That's a valuable distinction, and it changes the value of "default." You can't do anything really with those "defaults" by themselves. You need to assemble them into a useful form. Indeed, the assembly is part of the fun.
For D&D to try to be a pre-packaged product would be a tremendous mistake, IMO, because that's not what it is, and that doesn't play to its unique strengths as a game, or as a brand.
So when you say that "default" and "average" should be the same thing, that seems remarkably foolhardy to me, for D&D. D&D has never been a game you just play. It's always been a game you make with your friends.
Oh come on. What if the Paladin was designed so that they were as good as the fighter while fighting undead... and undead alone? And Wizards said "Well, the default assumption we were using was that all campaigns would face entirely undead enemies, if Paladins are fighting something else the DM can houserule it to fix this problem."
What if they include the 3E Druid, and say "well, the default assumption is that the Druid will be played by newer players who don't have any idea what they're doing, so the design is fine, and if it's played by a more experienced player then the DM should fix it?"
What if they don't include any rules for torches or light sources, and say "Well we're going with the default assumption that everyone is playing a character with low light vision or blindvision, so we figured the default rules didn't need that, if DMs want to put it in they can houserule it?"
How is any of this garbage acceptable, Kamikaze Midget? It's not! It's clearly not! The only reason you can't see this IN THIS VERY SPECIFIC CASE is that you don't like the default rules.
- Also anyone who doesn't like AEDU can houserule it, AEDU should be the default for D&D Next
- Anyone who doesn't like gridded combat can houserule it, grid combat should be the default for D&D Next
- Anyone who wants Vancian casting can houserule it, Wizards shouldn't be Vancian in D&D Next
Hope these opinions make perfect sense to you and you agree with them~