So what's stopping you from hiring/asking a 20th level Wizard to come with you and "win" the game in your place?
I tell you what: anything that's a class/subclass/character ability is GRANTED.
I'll agree that that is a feature of the subclass worth considering.
And that's exactly THE wrong thing to do. The BM pet is UNLIKE the rest of the game.
Their assumption is correct by definition : only the Beastmaster gets such pet.
Everyone (including the BM) can buy a trained animal, but they have to go through the "common sense" of finding one, pay for it, spend more time to teach it who's the new master, provide care for it, and RP to keep it loyal. Maybe it even takes its share of XP. Then repeat every each time it dies in battle or runs away for its life. THAT is common sense for an animal or NPC who is an entirely different being than its owner.
The BM pet is not a different being. It's part of the PC in many ways. Its price us already paid taking the subclass. Common sense doesn't apply to it.
Okay, here's where we run into two conflicting views of this part of the game. The problem as I see it is that the way they did it supports only
one playstyle element--the one you are encouraging. It in theory works in a game where companions outside of the class feature aren't very valuable, but fails completely in one where they can be.
But here's the thing: I think my solution works for either view. Even those who are fine with the Beast Master's companion being a mechanically limited feature that requires you action, don't think the subclass is overpowered. The problem many people have with the subclass isn't the problem I have, but rather that they think it is underpowered. So here's the question:
Would my proposed fix, (ie, allowing the companion to use it's own actions normally (for attack or anything else), and when the Beast Master uses their features to grant the companion attacks or actions, the companion uses their reaction to do them, and does them
in addition to their normal actions) make the Beast Master
overpowered?
It would definitely make the subclass more powerful than it is currently. I'm sure one could look at the subclass from a mathematical standpoint and point out how it is balanced with the other ranger subclasses as-is. But obviously, lots of people feel that the class is weak for one reason or another (totally unrelated to my own objections about it). So I seriously doubt it is going to be considered overpowered with my fix. It just means more people who want to focus on an animal companion will feel good about taking this subclass, and those who don't want to focus on the companion will feel fine playing a different subclass--and I suggest that this feeling will be the same regardless of whether the non-Beast Master rangers have purchased/trained pets or not.
So I offer my suggested fix, because I think it's something that works for almost anyone. It's going to give a power boost for those who want a power boost, fix the suspension of disbelief and availability of pet issues for those who have them, and for those who don't have any problem with the rules or assumptions as is, give a power boost that isn't going to negatively affect their game.