I just played a wizard in a campaign and the only time I ever didn’t cast a spell or cantrip every turn of a fight was one time when I cast banish on a powerful enemy and then ran away so I wouldn’t have concentration broken. Other than that, I was consistently pulling my weight in combat damage, even though my wizard was designed for primarily utility over battle.
It is possible that you play higher level campaigns than I am familiar with. It is a rare thing for me to get to 8th level and I spend most of my time 3-5. In that area, the odd 1-3 damage and mid to short range generally doesn't add much more than darts. And the chance to cast something more substantial for battlefield control, etc... has to be rare and strategic. It certainly isn't an every battle thing, let alone an every round thing.
Either way, I like the scaling. Apparently you do not. We can agree to disagree.
