I really hate the move away from alignment -- the cosmology, the gods, much of what makes the world feel magical goes away and we are left with yet another Game of Thrones study in realpolitik. I think there are some people at WotC that would like be working on another game but other systems aren't as popular. (and most successful alternative system, Pathfinder, does more with alignment than 5th ed does)
For some, alignment systems seem less sophisticated but I think that's just a case of it being done well or not. Spartacus: Blood and Pr0n didn't have alignment just realpolitik. Realpolitik done really badly.
It really comes down to a theological question -- what is the nature of evil? Tolkein's answer wasn't any less sophisticated that GRR Martin's, it was just different.
