Bill Zebub
“It’s probably Matt Mercer’s fault.”
You know what a lot of people really should do if they want subclasses at Level 1 but the game ends up going in a different direction?
Just create and name their character's Background as part of their subclass.
In that way you get the best of both worlds... you get to denote who your character is and what they feel they are from the very beginning of their adventuring career... and they gain mechanical benefits for having it-- a pair of skills, a tool, language, and a feat. Basically turn your Background into your very first subclass feature.
Make your Background "Acolyte of the Open Hand Termple". Or "Yoriki to the Local Samurai". Or "Student of the Illusion School". Or "Fey Chanter of the Glamour Queen". Or "Adherent of the Moon Circle".
Heck... there's probably a good DM's Guild product right there-- writing up a whole bunch of Backgrounds that are all connected to each of the subclasses in the game, with all the proper mechanical selections made to boost it.
I suspect one underlying difference in opinion is how much mechanical distinction is necessary/desireable to define a concept. I’m on the low end of that scale. A couple of flavorful but mechanically minor features, even just ribbons, and I’m happy.