
This would be beneficial in two ways: 1) We roll initiative as a party at the beginning of the session, and after every combat while everyone is healing. This makes the transition into the next combat a lot smoother and more thematic, as well as speed up the game. But when the DM is rolling initiative for 10 enemies you dont know are there yet, it really breaks the suspense for a combat that hasnt started. Or even in combat a player just has to go through the list to see how many 'secret', 'hidden' and 'stealthed' enemies there are to know they should be looking for something else. 2) there are plenty of effects that the DM tracks that the players shouldnt know. How long the buff spell on the necromancer is going to last, how many turns the wall of fire will be there, etc. This, on top of when I DM I like to let the narrative of the combat tell when someone's turn is and not just a list that everyone can watch. Its more engaging when I say "Jacks arrow caused an opening in the kabold's defenses, what do you want to do Louis?" as opposed to "its your turn Louis" By hiding the turn tracker completely until the DM wants to show it to everyone, he can start prep for any combats coming up. Or he can keep them entirely in the dark of all the enemies they face. The players shouldnt know more than what their character can see anyway