Spell versatility was terrible idea as it made already samey caster classes even more samey, not because it buffed sorcerers. Sorcerers are terrible and if we cannot get rid of them they need a buff, but it must be something that makes them more unique, not less.
Spell versatility was a great idea that finally gave the Sorcerer a unique effect beyond metamagic and made them genuinely different from other arcane casters; they were
mutable in a way Bards and Wizards weren't, limited in any single day to a small list, but able to spend a long period of time (as in, a week or more at higher levels) adjusting from one specialization to another. It was 100% shot down by the, as others noted, united Wizard fanbase who won't tolerate challenges to their hegemony. Sorcerers are great and since we cannot preserve what makes them great by flaying them to their bones and then shoving that skeleton into the hilariously thin closet of Wizard subclasses, yes, they do in fact need some buffs. But,
just like with D&D Next, we have absolutely no clue whether they will get that love or not, because all it takes to tank any alterations to any part of the game is to reach 30 percent of feedback.
They wasted so much time trying to get the fractured community to agree of the Fighter that every class outside the core 4 was rushed.
Yep. And the hilarious thing is, the designers themselves were
still disappointed with the Fighter they produced, as it fell well short of the thematics and flavor they wanted to achieve.
Proof that design-by-democracy has its significant flaws. It isn't bad to get player feedback, indeed that's a very very good thing. But player feedback works best in an environment where you have a clear vision and provide concrete, described alternatives, and
don't let a 30% minority hold the design hostage.
I think it was more than a year into the playtest before the sorcerer shows up again after the first attempt. It was always a second thought.
It did not return at all. All subsequent Sorcerer work came during the final months of closed playtesting. We had to wait for the finished product to see what they'd done with it.