I enjoyed D&D 3E a lot back in the day, it was as revolutionary as 1E, but it has some serious short comings that 5E improved on.
- The math, the number spread in 3E D20 rolls varied hugely which meant by mid levels some rolls were auto-success and others auto failure.
- Spellcasters improved exponentially compared to martial improving additively. By 12th level pure spell casters were dominant.
- Magic item Christmas trees with must have items for each slot. Ironically BG3 echoes 3E, although without the must haves.
- Spell buff spreadsheets, after long resting the party would buff up all manner of stat altering buffs that had to be applied in specific order for optimal use. Heaven help when Dispel magic hit the party. I guess CRPG could use preset buff lists and auto-calculate.
- Class dead levels. Most classes, apart from spellcasters, had dead levels where you gained Hps, that's it.
- Rocket tag, initiative was king. Win initiative, cast Haste, Harm and quickened Inflict wounds to one-shot the big bad. Many variations of the same.
With friends and gentleman's agreements, you could mitigate much of the above, but it's sure just easier to play 5E.
