You know, I'm thinking the love for things like spell learning chances is based around a mind-set not seen in D&D in some time.
Namely, that getting a PC to a high level (subjectively speaking) was an accomplishment. That to get where you are today, you had to scrimp and save and scrape by, and eke out every last exp you could lay your hands on against a hostile universe.
I don't think the last two editions have had that mindset. 3rd ed. introduced the wealth-by-level guidelines, and made it really easy to lay hands on whatever gear you thought you needed. 4th came right out and said (or at least strongly implied) that PCs should be given whatever magic items they thought they would like.
Before 3rd ed, you didn't have ANY official rules for building characters higher that 1st level. Even allowing the concept was up to your DM. 3rd ed made it easy, and expected.
I'm not saying that either play style was wrong. I love 3.5/pathfinder, but sometimes think a cold-blooded "earn your happy ending" game would be fun. But I think that WotC shifted the mind-set of the game to "play what you think would be fun", instead of the Gygaxian "play what you rolled and, if you're lucky, maybe you'll get to name level" thinking.
I think you're right. I did feel 3E and 4E made things too easy. I guess that makes me old school. I *do* think there may be a generational difference in terms of how newer/younger players view the game compared to older players.
I like that they've mentioned they're removing magic items from the progression system, so that character wealth is no longer tied to character level anymore. I *like* the idea of magic items being more rare and more special. Maybe minor stuff like wands and potions and scrolls are readily available, but that Frostbrand sword or Holy Avenger is something truly special, that you'd never find in a shop.
What about a combo system of some sort whereby players "buy" items for their PCs by expending level based points? But instead of the PC walking into a shop and buying that item they want, what you'd have is a pool of points they get based on level, and the player could determine, based on their vision for the character what items they'd like for their character, and the points are used to "spend" and get that item they want to have, by the GM then ensuring the item is recovered in game as a treasure or whatever.
Banshee