Can you please balance your game? Like, it’d be nice if Owls weren’t just hands down better than every other familiar in 99% of the cases. It’d be nice if Fireball wasn’t hands down better than most Level *4* spells 95% of the time. Both of those game elements are working as intended.
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) November 28, 2017
But it’s virtually always better to have an owl than any other familiar. Why is it intended for one familiar to be so mechanically superior? "Better" is defined differently for different players. If I want my character to have a cat, it doesn't matter to me that an owl can fly and has other advantages. I want a cat, which understandably lacks those advantages.
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) November 29, 2017