I agree with the OP that I’d rather have new spells to create surfaces than have them shoehorned into classic spells. I avoid surfaces in my games, other than “set flamable thing on fire” (which mostly happens by accident). Chromatic Orb may as well be Orb of Thunder as far as I’m concerned.
In theory, it’s cool how surfaces interact. Youtube has shown me tricks I didn’t suspect. Those effects, as illustrated by the OP, can be wildly out of balance. This makes me glad I haven’t engaged with that system so far.
