Sure, but a lot of us have been here since it was Eric Noah's and all about the 'new' 3rd edition, and have just adopted each new edition, 4e, then 5e, in turn.
If you build for it, sure. Which you can do in AD&D as a F/MU, or using powerful Bracers of Defence, or . . .
I'll agree on the easier arithmetic. I'm not sure about what you mean by "swingy" - if it's really an attack/defence treadmill then the "swinginess" is preserved just the same.
This just leads back to the discussion about minions and swarms. In 4e I had more combats, and more interesting combats, involving giant hordes of weaker enemies than I ever did in AD&D or Rolemaster.
You couldnt really do 'builds' in 1e, especially not that depended on items. And multiclassing meant significant level limits.
Multi-classing doesn't mean particularly serious level limits eg 7/11 for an elf F/MU, or 8/8 for a half-elf F/MU, assuming decent stats.
As you say, the rules aren't that clear. And you can always use wands, which tend to have good casting times.
I think it's pretty obvious that unclear rules (so hard to apply system mastery) that mention spoiling spellcasting and loss of the slot when casting in melee are a lot more melee-adverse than clearer ones that call for an AoO, risk spoiling the spell but not loss of the slot and can be circumvented with optimized concentration, which in turn are harsher than a mere OA without stopping casting that can be avoided by casting close spells, which in turn is less permissive than casting freely in melee with no consequence.
Unless you have save:1/2 AEs flying around at high levels, then the hordes get auto-killed. It's more dramatic, since volleys from said hordes will also be quickly fatal, but it's still problematic.
Yes, it does, and back to the treadmill illusion, as those minions and swarms will be of about the party's level, again.
