Shadow Over Mystara
Explorer
I think the right way to go is leave it completely out of the PHB. But leave it for the DMG and MM, as a feature that defines monsters, and then only some of them - basically, extraplanar beings who are made of the stuff, akin to elementals.
There are D&D-isms we’ve already lost that I think were more unique to the game. 3d6 straight down for ability scores, ability scores having minor mechanical effect, rolling all hit dice at each level up, characters being mostly or entirely locked into a class, XP for treasure, “name level” and domain management, etc. Alignment could be watered down or even eliminated and D&D would still be as strong as ever. It’s likely going to be the next minor evolution in its history.
Regardless of where we fall on the topic, we’ll all adapt just fine. There will still be good guys, bad guys, and a whole bunch of shady PCs in between, even if the labels are in lowercase.
There are D&D-isms we’ve already lost that I think were more unique to the game. 3d6 straight down for ability scores, ability scores having minor mechanical effect, rolling all hit dice at each level up, characters being mostly or entirely locked into a class, XP for treasure, “name level” and domain management, etc. Alignment could be watered down or even eliminated and D&D would still be as strong as ever. It’s likely going to be the next minor evolution in its history.
Regardless of where we fall on the topic, we’ll all adapt just fine. There will still be good guys, bad guys, and a whole bunch of shady PCs in between, even if the labels are in lowercase.