I don't think the notion that several of the radical ideas being pulled back is surprising. What is likely more surprising to some is the notion that "the radical idea factory is closed".
Considering we haven't seen playtests on:
1) Spells
2) Combat Mechanics
3) skills
4) Monsters
5) DMG stuff
6) Traps
etc etc
People might go, "wait that's it, that's the only area you all are innovating on?"
And its a reasonable sentiment, though at the same time we don't know how much innovation will occur without playtests. Perhaps they will use internal playtesting for a great deal of areas and continue a bit more radical ideas, just not in the areas that felt they needed direct player feedback on.