heavyfuel -> in that case the issue is also that the optimized PCs are facing UNoptimized monsters. having different optimizatoin levels between the PCs and the monsters does change the dynamic considerably.

your claim that people forgot of balance here is utter nonsense; we full well know the designers didn't balance well; but many of the basic numbers are setup under assumptions which do have enough relevance to be worth mentioning. especially as for some playres the optimization level between them and the monsters is more similar.