The writer got mad when a goblin shoved Astarion off a cliff. It reminded me of when I had Karlach shove a goblin in lava, then a goblin ran up and shoved HER in the lava. I didn’t get mad; I took it as a learning moment: enemies can shove me back, so move away from the lava.
The “looking for ways to stretch how far your spells can go” bit from Mage always struck me as “playing mother-may-I with the Storyteller.” I really prefer it as a player when my abilities do what they say they do, and as a DM when my players’ abilities don’t require me to make too many judgment calls, which can lead to players who are more persuasive IRL getting their way more often than players who aren’t.