If that wording came from me you can bank it is shorthand for level 1 spells cast from level 1 slots. I'm not so sure that's what you mean by it because you and others often bring 1st level spells being able to be cast from higher slots into the discussion. Because of that it would be helpful if you were more explicit.
Seriously? I’m clearly not saying anything about upcasting in the text you quoted.
If you really hadn't understood my shorthand before then consider the post you just quoted as my explanation of it.
you’re aggressively missing the point, which is that it’s on you to communicate clearly.
It's weird that I ask for a reason for how the versatility of the spellcasting feature that allows a level 1 spell to be cast in different slots and different spells to be cast from the same slot is relevant to a discussion about 1st level spells being cast from 1st level slots and you just repeat your claim that it's relevant.
<head desk>
I have done previously. I will do so once more, but the next time you expect me to repeat myself I will simply tell you no, and move on.
Firstly, I wasn’t talking about upcasting in that post, nor have I made that part of my arguments in this thread. Feel free to ask others for that explanation, though I do agree with them.
That out of the way, the reason that the ability to cast any level 1 spell you know/have prepared in a level 1 slot is simple. As I said before, the spell isn’t a class feature. It’s a thing you can do with the class feature. The spell slot is a class feature. With it, you can cast any of several spells. A level 1 spell slot, therefor, is what must be compared to a cantrip.
The comparison is using a cantrip (an at will ability), or spending a level 1 spell slot (limited ability). The level 1 slot is strictly superior, for several reasons. I think you’ve come around to agreeing that most (possibly all) level 1 damage spells are stronger than cantrips, or at least acknowledge the sense of the arguments. So then, we are left with the versatility. Ie, the slot vs your list of cantrips.
Cantrips have, at most, 4 options. Most characters will have at least one utility cantrip, so let’s say 2-3 options for damage. 1st and 2nd level spells can easily have twice that, that do things no cantrip can do.
Even if damage were numerically identical, being able to do the right damage, with more options for how you do it (cone, AoE, no-roll), means that the level 1 slot, counting only damage dealing spells as options for that slot, is more powerful than the cantrip.
Again, this is about part of your premise being wrong. That is, the premise that the specific unique spell is the feature that is in competition with your damage cantrips.