So... If you have 4 HP and are down to one you're just scratched? The whole HP thing was always an abstraction. It was understood (and talked about in the manuals) that it makes no sense, but for the game to play smoothly, >0 HP means perfectly functional. 0 or less means unconscious or dead. The 8 hour thing, in that framework, makes perfect sense. It is only absurd when you're trying to force grades of damage on to it. You didn't play that someone that damaged was suddenly an invalid and needed immediate medical care to not die did you, because that is the scenario you've just described. If low HP does that, then when does it start, etc? In fact, what you've described is the 0 to -10 range. Immediate stabilization needed, else impending death. 1 HP is more like battered but not majorly wounded in any way. Yes, there is a precipitous drop in condition at 0, but it is needed for it all to work.
This. The DM decided when your character would have "meaningful injuries", not your HP table. If your DM wasn't off random rolling a D20 or something, taking notes as s/he did it and you weren't looking at him curiously wondering what he was up to, then you weren't playing a proper game of D&D.
Combat in a typical game of D&D I played usually went something like this:
- Imagine a typical HP pool of 60 or so
- Combat happened (initiative, combat/AC rolls, etc)...
- anything that wasn't a natural 1 or 20 was just normal HP damage.
- anything that was a natural 1 or 20 usually went into "extended" damage and saves
- Typically extended damage would go potentially several levels deep but usually only would get "crit damage" meaning an extra die or two worth of damage
- Severe outliers based on multiple failed saves and extreme rolls on the DM's part
might end up with the player leading into more extreme cases of losing limbs or serious wounds
After battles, the healing begins. Bandages, herbs, potions and magic as needed. If you had any severe wounds, then yeah, you're not going to heal up in a few hours or over night. But this highlights the fact that
most battles RNG'd out with nothing more than typical or "heavy" HP damage at worst. Only a few outliers would ever venture into the realm of "Holy Crap, he's missing a leg!" at which point the adventure would take a different direction. The newer rules essentially take this into account.