hawkeyefan
Legend
Clearly some people prefer games and settings where the PCs really do start off as unremarkable nobodies who attain the status of "hero" by deed, and not by abilities or powers that they acquire automatically through choice of class, species or background features.
I think that their preference is games where this style of play is more easily, or outright supported, such as older editions of D&D (pre 3e?) or other games entirely.
Their argument is that 21st century D&D doesn't meet that preference. And that's okay.
To argue that this mode of game play is TRVE KVLT or "the one true way" is another subject to debate.
Oh, I get the idea of having the PCs be nobodies from Bumbleturd, and having them be fragile and in danger. It’s not really what 5e delivers or is designed to deliver, but I can understand the preference, even if I’d suggest other games to get that effect.
But regardless of the game, the PCs are special in that they are the focus of the game. They are who we are following. They are therefore different from NPCs.
I don't know where you guys are getting the idea that magic always works. It doesn't always work, or sometimes works, but not as expected.
Plenty of spells work automatically. There may be outside factors that can prevent that from time to time, but many spells are designed to be cast and then work at full effect.