The streamlined template means even as a noob DM I could pick up Vecna and run him and have a fun challenge. Then they give experienced DMs a way to make the encounter more complex by giving you the Book of Vile Darkness and a literal blank check to do whatever you want.
Noobs have a lot of issues running the old spellcasters. This new one is easier. I'm new to the game, not even a decade playing, and this spell block is easier to grok, understand, and use.
For the love of god, I wish the people on Enworld would stop acting like the new player experience is something they understand. Sometimes, you guys are so in your own heads with all the past D&D you've played, that you really just lose the ability to comprehend what the game is like for those of us who haven't played since 6000 BC.
And that's my biggest issue with WotC and how they have been treating D&D.
I'm perfectly fine with catering to casuals and rookies.
But
NOT at the cost of trashing/ignoring/deleting/butchering/watering-down/simplifying everything the veterans loved. Everything that pretty much were the foundations and traditions of the game just tossed aside like it didn't mean anything or somehow can't be integrated into the rules of the new system.
The D&D community has become rather laughable. All-inclusive...but only if you're either
brand new or willing to toss at least half your material out (or all of it if since the other half is game lore and Perkins and team pretty much made it clear that consistency and lore canon doesn't mean crap anymore.)
WotC could have easily gone two routes:
1) Support the older editions at a slow pace, while using the newer edition to bring more people to the game. Money from all ends since profit is all they care about.
2) Create two versions of the game; bring back AD&D. The new people have 5e and the veterans can have something a lot more closer to everything from 1e-3e than what 5e is providing now. Which is miniscule lumps of vegan meat.
This is why we have Edition Wars. Instead of pleasing everyone, which is easy to do logistically, they create bigger and bigger divisions with each new iteration of the game.
I've proposed an easy solution for them;
SOLUTION
Allow the DMs Guild to be open to all editions for creators, not just 5e. Allow writers to publish a "Fiendish Codex III: Yugoloths" or "Complete Incarnum" PDF for 3e. Allow another to rewrite 2e Psionics for the 2e system or publish a 2e Psychic Warrior. Allow the 1e creators to make PDFs converting 4e adventures to 1e. The list goes on.
Don't see the issue with that; literally everyone profits.
