Bedrockgames
I post in the voice of Christopher Walken
The absence of a system can be a strength. But it also can be a hindarance. It depends on the group.
The only real issue is the dismissal of playstyles.
And playstyles with noncombat subsystems were often dismiss and gaslit as always inferior because D&D started its first 2 editions without them. So many fans defaulted to thinking that their way was superior or even that no one played the other way.
You see it in the 2014 and 2024 versions of D&D.
But this happens both ways. I try to be polite and understanding of differences in taste in these threads. I think people generally should be when it comes to game design as the stakes are incredibly low. But I have seen that kind of dismissal on both sides of the argument
FOr me I am not defaulting to that way being superior simply because that is how I started. What I learned after years of playing 3E, was going back to the approaches laid out in 1E and 2E (and in basic) just work better for me.
ENWorld isn't too bad at this. However the D&D community as a whole is very toxic about the "My way is best. Your way is dumb" mentality. It's not everyone but the numbers is uncomfortably high and now they have social media and algorithms to spread their bias and influence newcomers.
I agree but again it swings both ways. I think all of us have encountered that kind of abrasiveness from people who don't share our gaming preferences or dislike an edition we love