seriously? because as far as I can tell 2e had lots of spheres, and 3.x dozens of domains in the phb. [/quote
For some classes, never for ALL classes.
And 2e gave you the basics to have eight extra flavors of mage, and 3.x gave us the same nine specialist flavors. Just six domains and six schools would be incomplete in that regard (and not even taking into account the bladesigner-like subclass designers promised) son you see I'm not being greedy, I'm settling for less than I've got in previous books.
Again, none of the prior initial PHBs had six subclasses for
ALL the classes. You're pretending that a few classes having many subclasses equates with all of them having that.
And don't call me son.
Now yes, in 3.0 and 3.5 sorcerer bloodlines were fluff only in the phb and by virtue of not having noticeable effects on the sorcerer they could be anything you wanted or not care about them at all, since they didn't define your sorcerer they were really unlimited in scope.
Right. So, none of that is "key", and none of that means they need more than three subclasses in the PHB. I am glad, despite the baloney of you posturing above, you agree with me that no prior PHB had 6 subclasses for
every class. And they don't need that with this edition either. Three subclasses is fine for each class. You can do more where appropriate, but you don't need it for all the classes, and you don't need it for sorcerer.