As someone whose first real class-based RPG was World of Warcraft (actually, I think it's technically Quest for Glory V, though those were always kind of adventure games with RPG elements) the idea of subclasses is pretty natural. In WoW, each class has three "specializations," which will significantly change the way you play (and is used to make some classes capable of performing the tank or healer role).
(TANGENT: Actually, not every class has three specializations, or "specs." Druids initially had three, but when Mists of Pandaira, the fourth expansion, changed the way that the old talent trees worked, it was no longer feasible to separate the Melee DPS, Cat-form-focused version of the "Feral" tree and the Tank, Bear-form-focused version. So they just gave them a fourth spec, called Guardian, which focused on Bear form. Then, with Legion (expansion 6) they introduced the Demon Hunter, who only has one DPS and one Tank spec. On Tuesday, they'll add the Evoker, who has one DPS and one healing spec. Thus, while the average has been 3 since Legion, the average number of specs in WoW for each class is going below 3 for the first time ever.)
In 5th Edition, each class makes a choice at 1st, 2nd, or 3rd level (most at 3rd) to pick a subclass. While there are other choices to make, like Spells, Fighting Styles, and other nuanced options (Warlocks get a lot of these) this is the big one, which has a big impact both on your mechanics and your flavor.
In the Expert Classes UA, they announced that subclasses will now all get their features at the same levels - you'll pick yours at level 3 and get your first features, then get more at level 6, 10, and 14.
Notably, this was a big deal for the Bard given that previously, they only got subclass features at three levels.
The implications here are pretty big. Let's start with the big ones:
The first pretty huge thing is this means that multiclassing will require a bigger investment to grab subclass features. It's actually pretty easy to pick up some powerful effects with a single level dip in some cases - perhaps the most infamous being the Hexblade Warlock, which gives you weapon proficiencies and armor training, along with the ability to designate a (non-two-handed) weapon to use Charisma for its attacks. Now, getting any such features will require a three-level investment, which is not insignificant.
But, also, from a roleplaying point of view, I think it will be contingent on players and DMs to coordinate for those subclasses that have heavy lore implications. A Warlock, for example, has subclasses based on the patron with whom they formed a pact in the first place to have literally any of their power - at least that's how it's been explained in 5E so far. Rather than choosing a subclass at level 3, it seems like if you want to play it this way, you'll need to have in mind what you're going to play from the get-go if you want to be able to figure out a backstory with your DM.
There are three classes that currently get their subclass right away at level 1: the Warlock, Cleric, and Sorcerer. In each case, the person gets their power from something implied in their subclass. The Warlock, as discussed above, gets it from their patron. The sorcery subclasses, I'd say, tell a story of how you got those inherent magic powers. The Cleric is somewhat more flexible, but at the very least it implies that your powers derive from some deity that embodies the domain your subclass represents (though in my newly-begun Spelljammer campaign I'm running, the Trickster Cleric worships my God of Invention, Science, Knowledge, and the Stars - I'm allowing her to flavor it as trickery being a kind of inventiveness).
Now, I think you can work out a solution here, but it won't work for every backstory. I think the first two levels in each case might be a process of discovering the nature of your power's source. In the Cleric's case, it's easy enough to imagine that there are multiple orders amidst worshippers of your deity, and that you pick your domain by picking a priestly order - this is the easiest to pull off. In the case of the Sorcerer, it might be that the true nature of your powers doesn't really manifest itself until you've managed to unlock something about it. The Warlock... here I think we have the trickiest thing to deal with. It's easy enough to say that you were making a deal with someone whose nature you didn't fully understand, but that sort of forces you into a type of backstory you might not really want. It's a decent choice to make if you want to play a Warlock but don't have a strong sense of what subclass you want, but I think simply playing it as if your powers were always themed around your patron and just don't really manifest specific rules for it until level 3.
Currently, these are the levels at which each class gets its subclass features:
Artificer: 3, 5, 9, 15
Barbarian: 3, 6, 10, 14
Bard: 3, 6, 14
Cleric: 1, 2, 6, 8*, 17
Druid: 2, 6, 10, 14
Fighter: 3, 7, 10, 15, 18
Monk: 3, 6, 11, 17
Paladin: 3, 7, 15, 20
Ranger: 3, 7, 11, 15
Rogue: 3, 9, 13, 17
Sorcerer: 1, 6, 14, 18
Warlock: 1, 6, 10, 14
Wizard: 2, 6, 10, 14
*This is only Potent Spellcasting or Divine Strike, which you could argue is more of a class feature than subclass one.
So, as we can see, the Barbarian won't have to change where its subclass features come at all. The Druid and Wizard will only see their subclass choice bumped back to 3rd level, but the rest come at the same time. Artificers will push their middle two back and the last one up a level (though unless we get an updated Artificer, I don't think we'll need to change them).
But some classes - the Cleric, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, and Sorcerer, will no longer have a subclass feature that doesn't come online until tier 4. The Paladin in particular might need some revisiting, as their final subclass feature is simultaneously their capstone ability for the entire class. These take the form of "ultimates," usually letting the paladin go into some kind of super-mode. It actually makes for one of the better (maybe best, though I think "infinite rages" and "infinite wild shapes" might beat it out for sheer cackling joy) level 20 capstones. Of course, now, the old level 20 abilities come at level 18.
The Artificer (who, again, might not be affected by this) will likely feel not so great about this, given that two of the subclasses get their Extra Attack feature currently at level 5, along with all the martial classes (sans Rogues). Here, they're delayed by one level. To be fair, this is true of Bladesinger Wizards, College of Swords Bards, and College of Valor Bards, who get their second attack at 6. Still, those subclasses are kind of exceptional, whereas Battle Smiths and Armorers make up a full half of all Artificer subclasses, and thus you could argue that it's also a "martial" class.
As stated before, Bards get a new level in which to learn subclass features. Interestingly, none of their existing subclass levels have to shift - they just get something new at 10. Clerics and Fighters get 5 subclass feature levels, though. Now, Clerics always get either Potent Spellcasting or Divine Strike at level 8, so I sometimes argue that this is more of a class feature than a subclass feature. But Fighters do, truly, get subclass features at 5 different levels. Two of these could be shifted by one level, and then you'd just need to drop their 18th-level features.
I've also speculated on a drastic redesign of the Fighter to basically make everyone a Battle Master, and so I could imagine that subclasses would also need to be significantly redesigned with that in mind.
What remains to be seen is what we'll see reprinted and how it'll look. In the Expert Classes UA, we got the College of Lore, the Hunter, and the Thief, with promises that other subclasses for those classes would show up in later UAs. We also know that there will be more subclasses in the One D&D PHB than there were in the 2014 one, but we of course don't know which those will be. I think it's a relatively safe bet that we'll see some familiar ones from later books like Xanathar's and Tasha's, but there could also be some brand-new ones.
Reprinting revised versions of other subclasses would also help make it easier to update existing characters to One D&D - rather than wondering how your, say, Rune Knight is going to work in the new system, you might find it right there in the Player's Handbook and update accordingly.
We are, I hope, due for another UA to drop relatively soon. Tuesday will be the 15th of November, which would put us about a month and a half from the Expert Classes UA, which itself came about a month and a half after the Character Origins UA (it's also when both Brother's War comes out on MTG Arena and the Dracthyr Evoker becomes playable in World of Warcraft, so if we get a UA I'm going to be a very busy nerd indeed). I don't know if that will answer or clarify any of the things we looked at here, but we'll see.
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