Snarf Zagyg
Notorious Liquefactionist
Sure, at some point you get diminishing returns on the number of choices. But I think what's important is to have distinct choices.
Looking at your car analogy, if I want to buy a VW ID.7 Tourer Pro I have these choices for color: Moonstone Grey (the only solid, the others are metallic), Aquamarine Blue (dark blue), Glacier White, Grenadilla Black, Scale Silver, or Stonewashed Blue (light blue). That list could definitely use a few more options – all the colors are super boring. You'd need to add something like a red, a green, a yellow, and a purple. Maybe an orange. But you don't need to have both a fire red and a strawberry red and a dark red – pick one.
To me, the current class choices in D&D is a bit like the VW. There are a bunch of theoretical choices, but none that appeal to me. What's more, if you add in sub-classes that's like different shades of the same color. I can pick moss green, leaf green, teal, or lime green, but nothing purple.
So, given that the last few pages have managed to turn into my favorite topic ... ME ... I thought I would at least briefly interject to see if I could try and re-direct the thread back to the original topic.
This, and the post you responded to ( @Oofta ) are both articulating a major issue with D&D releases, and something that I was discussing in the OP that I think speaks to the design philosophy of 5e that we've seen so far.
Without going too far into the weeds on the history of released, I think it is instructive to see that 5e is one of the longest-lived released of D&D that we've had, and certain the longest of the WoTC era. Moreover, the new 5e isn't a complete change as the ones before (3e-4e-5e) but is more akin to the 1e-2e transition- but maybe even less than that.
I think that one of the reasons for that is the comparative simplicity of the design, and because WoTC has been very hesitant to pump out more official crunch. To the extent that they do put out more official crunch, it is almost always tied into a specific setting. This has allowed it to continue and thrive without needing a hard reset.
In addition, the smaller number of choices in the core rules* continue to make it easier for new players to pick up, and the design philosophy (including bounded accuracy) means that while optimization is still something players can do, it's not like 3e where players would be punished for making "incorrect" choices with their characters.
*Again, this is a relative statement. D&D is not easy compared to many TTRPGs. But 5e is relatively easy compared to crunchier games, and to past editions, for many players.
The disadvantage with this is that, for people that really like the crunch, or like tons of options, you might find it lacking. Which is okay! Different people have different preferences. You can - (1) homebrew, (2) use 3PP, or (3) play a game that is more suited to your interests.
I would say that the choices made by the designers both make 5e an excellent game for the intended market, but also limit the design space for that group of people that really want advanced options. While there is a lot of great 3PP, IME there are limits to how diverse they can be given the underlying constraints in 5e.