Sign of the times:
- numbered bags
- step by step instructions
- use of different colors in relation to specific parts (regardless of the outcomes on the look of the models when the elements are visible).
To be added: functional illiteracy, short attention span, inability to go beyond literal interpretation (the most serious issue of the aforementioned ones).
Zeitgeist or just rhetoric of the old times? Whatever the opinion is, the need of focus and the sense of challenge may increase both personal satisfaction and skills development at the completion of the set.
Therefore the excessive simplification does not simply concern the building experience, it is an a priori value judgement of paying customers.