Paul Farquhar
Legend
I think that was because the assumptions the 4e DMG was laying out where different to the assumptions much the fandom had been using for 30+ years.Actually, I think you raise an interesting point. We talk about wanting a different DMG that is very clear and clearly explains assumptions and whatnot. Only problem is, we got a DMG that did that and it got rejected by the fandom.
D&D has traditionally left much to players to interpret, making it a very flexible system. Trying to lay out "one size fits all" play undermines a key reason for it's success.
Leaving "how to do" type advice out of the core rules seems like good practice to me. There are plenty of online sources and veteran players that can be tapped for advice. With the advantage that that kind of advice is "take it or leave it".