We had a full campaign and in most if not all fight we started totally rested. Combat was just not the focus of the story.
Urgency and danger can be conveyed without battering players down to single digit hp. In most if not all group I have played so far, none enjoyed the wargame aspect of D&D. They were there for the story, puzzles, and role-playing.
I do not, and never have, enjoyed D&D "for the wargame aspect."
The 5MWD problem is a problem for
much deeper reasons than that. Like sidelining other characters (as I said above), or trivializing the process of getting from challenge to conclusion (as was my initial argument), or erasing opportunities for people to socialize here in meatspace because everything is resolved with a few pushes of a button.
Non-combat is exactly as susceptible as combat here, because D&D spells are
even more overpowered outside of combat. In combat, at least the Fighter
can do things on her own that are unique to being a Fighter and moderately impactful, even if they never measure up to a generically strong spell used with a modicum of strategy.
What can a Fighter do out of combat that compares to a
zone of truth or a
speak with dead to solve a mystery? Or with
create food and water in a survival setting? Or with a
tongues and a
comprehend languages when negotiating with monsters? Or two spellcasters cooperating, one casting
greater invisibility, the other
silence over the area where the party intends to infiltrate? Or, or, or...
Having your entire daily loadout of spells every time you do something challenging means the people who don't have spells have rather little to contribute.