Man in the Funny Hat
Hero
It ain't what you play - it's how you play it. However...
Edition X surely doesn't lend itself to playstyle Y as much as edition Z does. Can 5E be made as deadly as 0E? Sure. But 0E doesn't have to TRY to do that. It is that. Can 0E be LESS deadly like 5E is? Sure. But 5E doesn't have to TRY to do that - it already is.
Simply choosing to play a different version and attempting to deliberately explore how THAT version was played differently does not invalidate 5E nor say anything bad about 5E. The RPG world does NOT begin and end with 5E. No RPG in general, and no version of D&D rules in particular has an expiration date. Choosing to play a NON-5E game and discovering that there are different ways to play D&D and enjoy it without D&D being ALL 5E ALL THE TIME will threaten 5E not at all.
Edition X surely doesn't lend itself to playstyle Y as much as edition Z does. Can 5E be made as deadly as 0E? Sure. But 0E doesn't have to TRY to do that. It is that. Can 0E be LESS deadly like 5E is? Sure. But 5E doesn't have to TRY to do that - it already is.
Simply choosing to play a different version and attempting to deliberately explore how THAT version was played differently does not invalidate 5E nor say anything bad about 5E. The RPG world does NOT begin and end with 5E. No RPG in general, and no version of D&D rules in particular has an expiration date. Choosing to play a NON-5E game and discovering that there are different ways to play D&D and enjoy it without D&D being ALL 5E ALL THE TIME will threaten 5E not at all.