You don't have to deviate from 5e rules to have surfaces. You definitely don't have to overpower cantrips to have surfaces.
Sleet Storm, Ice Storm, Wall of Fire create surfaces. Flaming Sphere creates a rolling flame, a moving surface that sets things on fire in its path. Stinking Cloud, Cloudkill... AoE with duration. Web is a surface you can't even use now because the fire spam is everywhere.
It's also about balance. Why would I cast Sleet Storm if I can do the same thing throwing a water bottle and shooting a cantrip at the puddle without using any spell slots?
I would really like the surfaces to come into play a little bit later in levels to keep combat interesting and fresh rather than just spam OP surface creation from level 1.
I agree with all of this - surfaces have a place, but it should not be everywhere and reserved to higher level spells.
And I also agree with removing or limiting the elemental arrows - at low levels they basically turn everyone into a wizard.
Barrels can make sense (a room full of black powder for story reasons, casks full of wine) but they should also explode properly, like a barrel of wine shouldn't explode like a barrel of gunpowder.
Also random vines on a ruin or in the woods shouldn't ensnare and cause damage, especially to adventures walking around in leather boots & armour. Having nasty grabby vines should be location specific and make sense within the context of the area.
(like in the purtid bog and not randomly outside the owl bear cave or growing on a very intact ruined temples stone entryway.)
