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Well, hopefully it's less "oops, nevermind" and more "After 10 years, here's what we figured out works better..." But sure, anyone who thinks it's anything resembling an exact science as opposed to, at best, an educated guessing game is being overly optimistic.

One of my biggest red flags is a DM that constantly says no to reasonable things players are trying to do. It makes me start to think the DM has a preconceived outcome (without telling the players he has one) or that he has a very specific set of things that "work" in mind and will reject/veto...

That is a whole other can of worms (metagaming: good, bad or neutral), and fire being needed to kill a troll is THE classic example. If this topic takes off - you'll see a split. Some really do believe that the player should not use ANY non-character knowledge when interacting with the game...

All of those may or may not be game mechanics actually. Is the Kobold easy to see? that's up to the DM and may involve a game mechanic. Whether the player successfully picks up the rock is up to the DM and very well might involve a game mechanic (depending on if the DM decides one is...

Honest question, If you think 5e can't be properly played, at all, why hang around a board where the primary function, is people discussing how they like playing 5e?

Because "stop playing and leave" is not a game mechanic. Because the players looking at the DM and saying "we refuse to accept stupid kobolds, change it or we walk.." is not something the game (D&D) even contemplates. It's a social power play not a rule or game mechanic. Is it a discussion...

I'm not sure why you keep saying that? Are you saying you think that's a detriment of the 5e system and that I'm not agreeable as to that fact?

Players are in no way duty bound to tolerate a GM who runs bad games. But there are no "in game" solutions to that. That said, very few DMs start "good." I think back on my early DMing efforts and marvel how my players didn't get up flee. It's a learned skill, and like most skills takes...

But the solution was an out of game one. There was no, in game, means for you to reject the fiction. D&D does not have such. To use a more blunt analogy: We're playing chess. I see that I am one move away from getting check mated. Instead of making my move, I get up from the table and...

You don't need expensive 3D terrain to have fun combats. Increased complexity? Possibly, but there are trade offs for everything. I've found a bit of extra complexity is more than worth it for fun combats, as long as the action is kept moving.

Unless the DM decided that Kobolds are stupid and that's that. The MM stats are merely suggestions. Our maybe the kobold was just playing super dumb, which was so effective it nuked the campaign. Or maybe the DM was inexperienced, didn't want to impart the information and didn't handle it...

Only if the DM, for some reason, doesn't believe in dynamic combats with fun moving parts.

With the huge success of 5e and the proliferation of online play, is that still true? Is it really difficult for players to find a 5e game? For, in person, I can see it, though there seem to be plenty of options were I live

The GM absolutely had the right and power to establish the stats of that particular kobold. Even by your own argument, the MM merely lists stats for average members of a race, there are going to be variations, including really stupid kobolds. More importantly, unless you guys had established...

The poster, in that example, was almost certainly engaging in some kind of Internet tough guy power fantasy rather than relaying any kind of actually happened scenario. If the scenario was, in any way, accurate, then his players (if he actually has any) should be reporting him to the proper...

With that statement, how can 5e be properly played as written? 5e is VERY clear: For the players, the rules are rules. For the DM, the rules are suggestions. As such, the power imbalance is near absolute. 5e assumes the DM will be running in good faith, but doesn't give the players any in...

If the scout gets captured/killed and doesn't come back he's done his job - he found danger.

That would be interesting. If everyone has flight, then there's parity between the PCs, so no issues there. And since everyone has flight, the challenges would certainly have to be approached differently. I could see a potential problem with low level published adventures, but otherwise I...

Eh, if you want to be the only PC flying when the baddies have bows? you do you!

I think that gets to the heart of the issue. Some players really do believe that if it's official content they should get to use it. I've never had that issue, but, supposedly, it exists.