I would agree and disagree at the same exact time. I would agree with you more than I disagree though. Still the healing systems of 5e are far more like 4e than they are like pre-4e. Not the same no but they are built on the same foundation.
Not really, no. The 4e healing system was proportionate, based on healing surges that were, in turn, based on total hit points. While hit points increased, healing surges remained relatively static in number, just growing in proportion.
5e relies primarily on healing magic, as in prior eds, with is non-proportionate healing. So Cure..Wounds spell heals so many dice of damage, and that's that, whether it's a 10 hp scratch on a 100 hp character, a 10 hp potentially-fatal wound on a 6 hp character, the same 10 hps of healing spell fixes it right up - whether you're talking about 5e or 1e (mind you, 1e with optional negative hps in use, of course). Healing spells increase in number and power as you level up, so total healing resources increase in quantity to keep up with character hps.
You could point to HD - a mechanic superficially similar to healing surges, hiding under a classic-D&D name - and claim that their existance somehow includes the 4e system. Even though HD, like spells are non-proportionate and grow in number to keep up with total hps, just like spells, and even though they're not a foundational mechanic. (In 4e, healing uses healing powers use surges as a resource, while in 5e, HD are a separate mechanic that have no bearing on healing magic). So, while they're a nice token gesture, they really don't do the trick. (And, they very easily could have, spells, for instance, could use the target's HD instead of being arbitrarily d8, for instance.)
Dissociative mechanics are far more common in the core in 5e too which was common in 4e. They were not nearly so prevalent in pre-4e games.
Meh. "Dissociative" is bunk. Just a disingenuous way of selectively applying realism arguments against elements a fantasy game where realism makes a poor criterion, anyway.
But I see enough 4e in 5e to poison it for me by default.
I don't think it's fair to blame 5e for your low tolerance.
I think 4e's "philosophy" could survive in a game even if the exact 4e game does not. 13th Age is philosophically a lot like 4e though it takes a big step back from the tactical grid.
"Love letter to D&D" or no, 13A takes a hard left onto the indie side of things. I can see how you'd hate indie games as much as you hate 4e. After all, neither meets the exacting definition of D&D which is the only thing you're willing to accept. But, just because they're both outside your narrow range of preferences doesn't mean they're both the same, nor even similar.
13A /does/ do an excellent job of supporting non-grid play. Heck, if 'da grid' were the major reason h4ters claim it is for rejecting 4e, they'd be flocking to 13A for it's efficient gridless handling of movement, positioning and AEs - something 5e, like classic D&D, doesn't offer.
I suppose you could draw conflicting conclusions about 4e's "philosophy" - ultimately it was a game created by a team of people, and strongly influenced by top-down corporate directives.
Whatever the philosophies, forces, and exigencies that shaped it, 4e turned out to be a fairly clear, balanced and playable game - more so, by no small margin, than the editions that preceded it. If 5e could merely rise to the same level of quality, I'd be quite pleased with it - regardless of the philosophy it used to get there or the preferences/styles it might slightly favor (it couldn't much favor one without becoming imbalanced, afterall).
No need for the snark at the end. My only point is that I don't feel hatred of an inanimate object is any big deal and it does not reflect on other people liking that same object. Lot's of people hate asparagus. I love it. I don't feel like the asparagus haters are out to get me.
You don't see a lot of "asparagus haters" getting onto vegetarian forums and insisting that every recipe that includes asparagus be taken down unless it explicitly includes non-asparagus alternatives. Nor do you see them succeeding to such an extent that anyone wanting asparagus is going to have to produce it in secretive grow houses for fear of legal action.
