Convenient how you just ignore and don't quote the actually relevant part of my post, the very next sentence:
Because the relevant claim was the part I quoted?
That is pick a casting method and forget. There is absolutely NOTHING in the rules about keeping track of bat guano, and spider webs, and mistletoe, iron shavings, or the like. Nothing.
Except for the fact if you don't have access to your spell focus or component pouch you have to start keeping track...
The given components in the spell listings are purely for fluff, or if you WANT to play that way (most don't, and it's not the way official Organized Play (default) 5e is done).
Be sure to tell your DM that if you ever get captured and all your stuff confiscated and you then need to escape.
That is a completely different situation from those very rare times when the DM specifically contrives to remove you from your gear. Does that mean that fighters are always "tracking" their sword? Hardly. I guarantee you would have a lot less spellcasters if they had to go through the annoyance of tracking bat guano. Just where on the character sheet are they supposed to do that?
Oh, so it's just fluff... until it's no longer just fluff? That makes sense (no it doesn't). And yes, actually a fighter does keep track of their weapon. For melee fighters, it's pretty much an X or Y situation where X= weapon Y= no weapon.
And for ranged fighters its keeping track of their ammunition in addition to their weapon. Sort of like how a caster has spells with material components and spells without.
So I guess a player who didn't have access to a component pouch or focus for any length of time would probably track it the same way those ranged fighters do... you know. That area called "equipment" on the sheet? Or perhaps a sheet of paper?
There are no mechanics in the game for needing to search for them, the chance for finding them or not, the odds of your 'live' spider being alive or dead, costs, or where or how or who to get the more exotic components from. There are no charts, percentage chances, DCs, prices, or any necessity for a die roll - the lifeblood of D&D.
Man if only there was some sort of way to adjudicate challenges based on existing attributes... or some way to get bonuses on those with skills or the like. If you as a DM can't put something that basic together... well.. everyone needs to start somewhere I guess.
That's why 5E completely abstracts them with named spell foci (for classes beyond the Cleric) and - for the first time I've seen - an explicit 'component pouch that has all your stuff'. They simplified and streamlined this edition in all sorts of ways, and this was one of them.
Yes, and I use them. However, that doesn't mean the rules don't say "you need components". They just provided an easy way to do so. But just because it's available doesn't mean it's always going to be available. Stuff happens. And the default assumption is, again that certain spells require components. Some of them are cheap, and can be substituted, and some of them are costly, and can't.
Of course you take a ridiculous position and attempt to make it my ridiculous position.
You're the one who claimed that material components are just for fluff and that component pouches and focii, while important, should not always be relied upon. I then asked you simply whether or not that happened to a PC of yours whether your response would be "It's fluff" or not. Since you know, you claimed it was...
There is a vast difference between the heroes having their resources taken away as part of events that unfold as a part of the central conflict of the game, VERSUS being forced to do silly item acquisition side-quests to allow someone to use an ability that the game grants them automatically. ("So, you gained the Mending cantrip on level up, but you don't have any Lodestones. You're in the middle of a low tech region, so there's no way to get them for the next three weeks. Too bad, no casting for you!")
...Where did I ever state that I defaulted to no component pouches or focii? All I've stated is that the default assumption of the game is use of material components. That means for non-expensive items you a) Use the components that you gather yourself b) Use a spell focus c) use a component pouch.
You're the one stating that components don't matter, when they do. You're the one stating they're just for fluff, when they aren't. I'm stating they are important, and you shouldn't assume you will always have a component pouch or spell focus handy for them.
Or... (since turnabout is fair play) "Ok, when you fell off the bridge and failed your Dex save, you see you fell on your spellcasting pouch and smashed it. So, your spider web is now mashed up in the iron filings so until you go back to town you can't cast Web or Flaming Sphere. Also, (consults chart for several minutes) it's been two months since you last harvested Mistletoe, so it was dry and got crushed. Your Shillelagh has a 50% chance of not working until you can harvest it again under the full moon with a silver sickle into a pearl bowl. Oh, wait, your bowl is cracked too. And it's...(consults another chart) three weeks until the next full moon."
That would be an interesting way to play it. I might have to see if the players in my game want that level of verisimilitude or not. Of course, most of them use spell focuses in the first place precisely because it's easier to hold onto them (spell component pouches do look like coin purses after all, and they travel in areas that aren't... well let's say very respectful of another persons personal belongings).
