It is true when people here say that "popular" does not equal "good". Because the former is a calculable number, and the latter is not. We can calculate approximately the number of D&D players who like 5E14 and the number of players who do not (through surveys and the like as necessary). But whether something is "good" is subjective. Everyone will have a differing opinion. Rotten Tomatoes does not tell us whether a movie is objectively "good" or not... they tell us whether the people in the survey think it is good or not for them in their opinion. So "popularity" is a measurement of how many people think it's "good" or not.
So what does "popularity" actually tell us? It tells us how likely something is to be changed. The more popular something is... the more people like it... the less likely WotC has the need to change it to something else. Even if someone tries to create some sort of "objective" measurement that says it is "bad"... like the Fireball spell being "overpowered" for a 3rd level spell... if it remains popular regardless of that supposed "objective fact"... WotC has little reason to change it and probably won't.
Thus when people say that some part of D&D 5E is popular and thus good... what they are really saying is that it is popular and thus less likely to be changed into something else. And if a person doesn't like that thing but they find themselves in the minority about it... with most other people either liking the thing or not having an opinion on it one way or the other... they will not see the thing they don't like get changed into something they possibly might.
It's only when WotC sees a predominant number of people actively disliking something will they consider changing it-- like the 5E14 Beast Master Ranger, the Great Weapon Master feat, the 4 Elements Monk... then they will consider amending the rules to "fix" it.
So what does "popularity" actually tell us? It tells us how likely something is to be changed. The more popular something is... the more people like it... the less likely WotC has the need to change it to something else. Even if someone tries to create some sort of "objective" measurement that says it is "bad"... like the Fireball spell being "overpowered" for a 3rd level spell... if it remains popular regardless of that supposed "objective fact"... WotC has little reason to change it and probably won't.
Thus when people say that some part of D&D 5E is popular and thus good... what they are really saying is that it is popular and thus less likely to be changed into something else. And if a person doesn't like that thing but they find themselves in the minority about it... with most other people either liking the thing or not having an opinion on it one way or the other... they will not see the thing they don't like get changed into something they possibly might.
It's only when WotC sees a predominant number of people actively disliking something will they consider changing it-- like the 5E14 Beast Master Ranger, the Great Weapon Master feat, the 4 Elements Monk... then they will consider amending the rules to "fix" it.