Class "Tiers"

[Stonehead]

It's also not mainly about complaining, I think. I find them a very valuable tool for DMs.

That's fair, "things Stonehead has seen in games/on forums" is pretty far from a representative sample. The DM should know each character's strengths and weaknesses, and classes are a good starting point for figuring that out.

Maybe online discourse about game balance just tends to come across as very whiny when it's repeated every week.

I also don't want to give off the impression that balance wasn't an issue in 3e/3.5/Pathfinder. If I remember correctly, highlighting character-creation skill was a design decision the developers had from the start. Almost like highlighting deckbuilding skill in a game like Magic.