Lanefan
Victoria Rules
I call that a terminology problem, as while the Bigby's Hand spells (and some others) reference force, they don't mean the same type of capital-F Force that comprises Walls of Force, Forcecages, and the like. Capital-F Force can't be broken. Small-f force needs a different term, though I can't quickly think of a good one.See, for me, it's just a good example of the problem. It's not that spells are broken or whatnot. That's not really the issue. It's the spells (and it's generally spells, although there are other bits and bobs) become default. Like I said earlier, if something is so good that it's the obvious choice in most situations, then it's probably too good.
After all, why is Wall of Force only affected by Disintegrate? It can't be dispelled or even broken down? Why not? I can block an ancient dragon with a 5th level spell and there is nothing it can do about it? Seriously? These spells should have break DC's - after all, I can smash a Bigby's Hand, which is a force effect, so, why not Wall of Force?
And though I can't speak for 5e (I could look it up but can't be arsed right now), in comparison to most other Wall spells the versions of WoF I'm used to have a relatively short duration - a few tens of minutes, maybe - meaning that while you can block an ancient dragon with one it won't stay blocked for long.
This last is not true. You have whatever resources are available to the foes at the moment and that's it. Spellcaster foes have (I hope!) the same limits on casting as do the PC casters in terms of durations, number of spells castable, and so forth; so to say you have unlimited resources is a rather major overstatement.And that really highlights the problem. The spell effects are so inconsistent. And those inconsistencies often are the root of problems. Frankly, it's pretty obvious that the higher level effects in 5e were never really play tested. There are just far, far too many effects there that are pretty over powered. And, again, if we go with the "oh, well, use the same tactics against the PC's", well, if I do that, I'll TPK the party every time because I have unlimited resources and they don't.
So sure, if the PCs want to use something overpowered while at the same time not preparing defenses should the same thing be used against them then I'd say it's not your problem as GM.