Originally Posted by
Moreb Benhk
But isn't that in part because of spell balance issues rather than spell number. There are a number of spells that are straight out superior to other options, so they become the obvious default choices. I'd rather they addressed balance issues with existing spells and cantrips in a book like Tasha's, rather than printing new spells 3.5E style. A spell list of 5000+ spells doesn't actually provide a lot of diversity in play when 1000 are so bad that no body uses them, 2000 are just worse-versions of other spells, and 100 spells break the power curve for utility and impact. In play you'll mostly see the 100 spells (and a smattering of the rest), because people are disincentised from picking objectively less-effective options.
Same thing for feats. Some of them suck pretty hard - so the actual list most people choose between is pretty small.
Plus rebalancing the spell/feat list is newbie friendly as it doesn't add to bloat and removes trap options that will contribute to them feeling inneffective.