you can actually side with the bad guys. Combat arenas are more interesting than just a flat plane lots of hidden nooks and crannies and secret passages. better verticality better stealth 5E rules allow for more interesting use of positioning. 5E rules prevent buff stacking before every hard fight.
I don't mean to be contrarian but you could side with the bad guys(and be the antagonist) in older BG games. They where also filled with secrets that lead to much bigger payoffs than what is currently in the game even in the starting areas. While flanking and position is highlighted and played up a lot this has nothing to do with the editions and positioning mechanics where, as a matter of fact, nerfed in 5e and weaker comparatively to some of the older editions. 5e rules do not prevent prebuffing either(mage armor lasts for 8 hours for example) and this is again something that the game is actively working against rather than the ruleset.
As far as verticality and combat arena's I agree with you completely but I am still waiting for the full release before I pass judgement on stealth mechanics as too much is missing and with how the action economy has already been altered I'm curious to see what else will be changed prior to a 1.0 release.
I am here to discuss a video game. Please do not try to rope me into anything other than that. Thank you.
