Originally Posted by GiantOctopodes
I agree the game is wildly imbalanced, and generally speaking I don't mind it. I do think there should more often be a consequence to popping a long rest, and I do think the presence of boosts to 23+ for some stats like Str and Con but not others like Int is balance warping, and a few decisions like multiclass Wizards (though that's arguably supported by 5e RAW), or the implementation of Tavern Brawler are poor choices which negatively impact the game. But in general, I think that the game is made better by the presence of wild, unbalanced combos and obscenely overpowered builds. It's just plain fun to design builds which can one shot bosses and optimize against given characteristics, and smite enemies into ruination. If different classes and subclasses have different power levels and playstyles, that's more build space to explore. I get that you want a toned down max power level so you can have toned down bosses so less optimized stuff has an easier time - I don't. I want stuff that absolutely demolishes bosses, and stuff that struggle busses through, and I want to be able to figure out which is which and how to make the stuff that struggle busses better, without just making it a minor flavor variation of the stuff that demolishes. I'm happier with the game as is, so I guess I'm their target audience XD Sorry if you're not a fan.

"Toned down max power level so we can have toned down bosses so less optimized stuff has an easier time" is the exact opposite of what I want. I want toned down max power levels and *keep the bosses the same* because this game, as it currently is, is an absolute breeze to go through. I don't even MIND people who play trying to optimize things as much as possible, in fact I am ONE of those people, but I don't do it with this game because the space is so easy it's not even *fun* to explore.

Let me put it this way: It is far more fun to optimize a build to 1-round kill a boss that *actually gives you trouble in normal play* than it is to optimize a build to 1-round kill a boss that is *extremely easy* in normal play. If I can already waltz through max difficulty without even trying to optimize in the slightest, it's not fun to go back and then try to build something that can...waltz through it again, but even more so this time. It just feels trivial and boring.

And the problem is that when the player's power is already WILDLY overtuned without even trying to optimize, it's going to become *nigh-impossible* to actually make additional, higher difficulties without resorting to
1. Massively overinflating the monster's stats (the laziest possible way)
2. Making gimmicky battles. (And in fact a lot of the battles are already quite gimmicky.)