Helldritch
Hero
It was something that did not appear immediately. I always play with 5 to 6 players. And in 3e you were encouraged to bring hirelings and followers... The rare discrepancies that did happen over time were put on the fact that I had big parties. Something in my mind was telling me that something wasn't right, but I could not put my finger on it. Until that dragon that became CR 25...I didn't even make it that high. Once the very first party I DMd 3e for hit about 4th level, I realized that CR 4 creatures varied wildly in power and the variance only got worse the higher you went and the more abilities/spells things got.
Encounter balance is more accurate (still not perfect) in 5ed. I have two groups of 6 players and so far, difficulty expectations are almost always right on the spot (barring too good or too bad luck...).