Here we go. Disastrous SpaceX launch!
Look people even if you hate Musk, and lots of people do, he is smart enough to build a flame trench to divert the rocket engine exhaust. So let's think about this, just a little more. If you're going to send a big rocket to land and launch on the Moon and Mars you going to have to land and launch on a rocky surface that hasn't been built up like an Earth based launch complex.
There have been 10's of thousands of launches on a launch pad. So there was really nothing to learn from a launching on a traditional launch pad. No real time data ever for a launch off of the type of pad that just launched the Super Heavy/Starship. While not exact, it does simulate, in a way, launching off of the Moon/Mars.
Also launching the 1st Super heavy with some engines out at the launch and most likely due to damage to the bottom of the rocket is also the perfect way to test the robustness of the system. Especially during the 1st launch test when changes will be much easier to make moving forward.
It isn't like SX doesn't know how to launch and land rockets. If you don't believe me, do a quick search for the Falcon 9 rocket. The great unknown is how to land & launch big rockets (The LEM was small) on places like the Moon & Mars. Addressing this in the 1st test, is smart. Because it will be the fastest and cheapest way to a working solution. Addressing the challenge, of debris kicking up 2 years from now, at the end when everything else has been finalized, is the path to billions of costs over runs and delays of decades.
Also, similar to the testing of the Apollo F-1 rocket engines, some windows were broken. It doesn't seem like history looks back at the Apollo program as a Disaster due to a few broken windows. I also don't think the Sea Turtles were nesting at this time. Was the launch complex damage worse then expected, it sure seems like it was but, this why test flights are done, right? To find the unknowns.