Here's the thing: in third edition there were updates of Dragonlance (WotC/Weiss) and Ravenloft (Arthaus). There was even a Dark Sun update in Dragon (Paizo). You know what they all had in common? THEY MANAGED TO FIT ALL THE PHB CLASSES AT THE TIME IN THE SETTING! Sure, they made some exceptions for race, (removing a few, adding or replacing some) but both of those settings (which like DS banned classes in 2e for "flavor" reasons) managed to find them all homes in 3e. And guess what? Nobody says how RL or DL was destroyed by allowing monks, paladins, or sorcerers in them.
I agree? I'm only arguing for truly cutting a paladin/cleric.
No, no we don't. D&D is not the same game it was in 2e. Settings, tastes, and attitudes change. Dark Sun's edgelord "I'm not your father's D&D" isn't going to work under a climate where books are greenlit on the basis of % of players willing to buy-in. You are NOT going to get sufficient buy-in for a setting that renders most of the PHB obsolete. And the Theros line is disingenuous when it comes to Dark Sun; its isolated from the multiverse so those "other worlds" are cut off. You might as well re-write it:
Firstly, I'm not arguing every game of DS
should be the edgelord version; the book should provide options to do that, but it shouldn't be the
only option.
The Theros line is not disingenuous; if you know anything about DS lore, it is hard to travel to but not impossible (the Githyanki literally invade DS in a module). Travel to Theros is also only possible for Planeswalkers; in terms of how hard they are to travel to, they're about the same.
Lather rinse repeat with spells (5e has been slow to add new spells, so every banned spell is a further reduction of PC choice), backgrounds, equipment etc. If your 1-2 pages is a pure "this doesn't exist" you're going to make new players go "then what does?"
Saying "5E is slow to add now spells" isn't an argument for this book not adding new spells that are specifically good fits for Dark Sun. Just as having a list of spells that are specifically allowed for DS. I'll be first to say you shouldn't be able to cast
goodberry in a DS campaign. But what's wrong with a
fireball? I damn expect a Sorceror King to throw multiple of them at PCs.
And there absolutely should be a slew of new spells in this book, if there is no psionics system; spells that at least mimic many of the ideas of psionics.
Reading your comments, I'm getting the idea that you don't actually expect DS to be ever be published. Considering how many times WotC has been trying to get psionics to work in past UAs, I'll say it's something they're actively pursuing, especially as setting books (both new and old) are proving extremely successful for them.