It's funny how two people can play the same game and like it for diametrically opposed reasons. All the things you list are the things that I'd like to see less of.
Speaking of which... what the game needs is the damn modules that they promised during the playtest, that you could use to tweak the game into different playstyles.
Tactical Combat Module: way more elaborate grid rules (facing!); special moves (disarm! defensive attack!); techniques (Florentine!); +2/-2 modifiers (oh the heresy! cover your children's ears!)
Social Intrigue Module: concrete moves for influencing NPCs; social standing, social statistics; rich NPC attitudes; faction statistics; influence/favor tracking; PC-controlled factions; headquarters
Narrative Storytelling Module: scene framing; aspects; narrative control; story consequences; personality mechanics; story XP; rotating DMs; DM-less play
Epic Level Module: 10th-level spells; ginormous monsters; legendary items; exotic planar locales with special rules; ascension to godhood; power to change whole worlds; gonzo mode
Super Simple Module: Races, classes boiled down to their essentials; gutted skill, spell, equipment systems; many concrete moves replaced with better guidelines for improvised actions; still compatible with the MM in terms of math
Modules like this would:
- Retain players who like very different styles than default 5E ("Instead of converting Curse of Strahd into Savage Worlds, let's just run it with the Super Simple Module")
- Telegraph table/DM style to other players ("I'm running Ebonclad, a thieve's campaign, but with the Social Intrigue Module because I love that stuff")
- Introduce long-time players, who might be getting a little bored, to some new ideas ("Hey, for our next campaign, why don't we try some of this Narrative Storytelling stuff?")
- Inspire 3rd-party publishers to create supplements that work with specific modules ("100+ Epic Spells! For use with the Epic Level Module")
Modules like this carry some risks.
1. They fragment the player base ("Oh, this is a Tactical Combat Module table? No thanks."). I'm really not sure that that's any worse than just having people go play other RPGs.
2. Certain modules become sooooo popular that they are de-facto rules bloat ("Of course we're using the Social Intrigue rules, why wouldn't we be? I mean I don't expect to it to come up that often, but you better read that whole book in addition to the PHB, just in case."). I don't have a good solution for this, other than to make the modules focused and targeted enough that it becomes obvious that they aren't suited for all campaigns. A module that becomes super popular could also be helpful in determining the direction of 6E.
3. The use of modules is so successful that it drives people away from other RPGs ("Well I'd really like to run FATE but it's just so much easier to find players willing to play D&D with the Narrative Storytelling Module."). I'm skeptical that this would actually occur. I suspect instead it would be a gateway to other RPGs ("So FATE is like Narrative Storytelling Super Simple D&D, but with less math.").
4. A particular module might be a dud and not sell well. I think Wizards could probably avoid this because their marketing research department is an absolute machine.
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