Jefe Bergenstein
Legend
5E could do better with "combat as sport" play, with better encounter building and creatures that actually pose a threat against competently played PC's. You'd need to go beyond that as well, with the adversaries and world having resource allocation to the challenges the DM presents to keep it fair. This would allow an actual challenge for the players to legitimately "win" at D&D. Essentially each adventure would need to be a narrative wargame.That I don’t like it isn’t a design flaw, no. That it’s not cleanly designed to do what it’s meant to is a design flaw.
A lot of people seem to disagree with you. Especially when it comes to 5E.
But it’s not much of a game at that point. If this really is the goal, the majority of the rules are pointless. It’s designed to make people think they’re playing one kind of game when they’re not, they’re playing a completely different “game.” Something I wouldn’t even recognize as a game, honestly. You could have all the rules in a pamphlet. “Let the players do cool stuff and always win.” You don’t need three core books at $50 each and 350+ pages each to do that.
But D&D has always had a strong element of "6 year old arm wrestling their dad", where one party has essentially unlimited power, authority, and resources, and the players get to win because the DM set up a scenario that lets them. The more you DM yourself, the more obvious it becomes. You've not only peered behind the curtain, you've been the man pulling the strings behind the curtain. The "challenge" players face is somewhat illusory. The real challenge is the balancing act the DM has to pull off to make them forget it.