> In D&D, take the Planescape box set - it was a really empty world lacking in the imagination that the original second ed Planescape had. All the D&D content just seems like filler to me.
The other problem is that 5e supplements might be better described as pamphlets.
The box set you mention advertises itself as containing three sourcebooks:
1. A campaign setting (96 pages).
2. A prefab adventure for levels 3-10.
3. A monster manual (64 pages).
The second edition Planescape supplement lists 224 pages of campaign setting + monster manual, of which the monster manual is 32 pages.
The 3e Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting is 320 pages.
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Here's something that bothers me about WotC's modern quest to sell their cards at every conceivable price point:
The concept is, obviously, market segmentation. If some people have more willingness to pay, you charge them more, and you get more money! Instead of having some consumer surplus and some producer surplus, you have lots of producer surplus and almost zero consumer surplus.
The problem I see with attempting to drive consumer surplus to zero is that -- staying entirely within the realm of theory -- you end up with a customer base consisting mostly of people who are almost completely indifferent as to whether they buy your product or not.
This is not a good way to build goodwill. And, if you ever even slightly misjudge the value of your own product, suddenly you see people abandoning it in droves, because the barely-noticeable dip in value was still larger than the gap between how much everyone liked your stuff vs how much they liked the money it was costing them.
Brandon Sanderson has started writing about how much he likes WotC's model of selling the cards at every conceivable price point, and how it's inspired him to try to sell his books the same way.
But I think he's overlooking the fact that, as a millionaire many times over, WotC's highest offered price point is still insignificant to him. Things look different when you're part of the finely-segmented customer base.