Do you think that fire surfaces will be depreciated as the game advances and levels/spells overcome it? Take for example the changes to firebolt being weaker in Larian's version at max level possibly doing 4d6 with fire effect 1d4 x2 (initial application and next turn dmg) vs 5e doing flat 4d10.
6-32 dmg with 2 turns of fire surface (I think thats about 19.32 avg?) 1-40 dmg with 1 application of direct dmg (20.5 avg?)
In scenarios where the ground can't be lit on fire due to blood/water/liquids/mist/wet conditions firebolt is even more depreciated in Larian's version.
So, why do it all then? Fire Bolt is supposed to be a caster single target damage standard ranged attack... it is balanced to go up in damage as casters advance in levels, to keep them competitive with other classe's (ranged) capabilities outside of their limited spell casting resource. Almost every other cantrip has some form of side effect (usually debuffs) that allow saves. There are also multiple other cantrips that deal with generation/spread of fire, specifically not rolled into Firebolt, to keep the balance.
