I think, if SE continues with making expansions as continuations of the story, rather than isolated stories of their own, they will eventually have to start granting skip potions to new accounts that buy the game and expansions. Maybe redeemable for something if you don't want to use them. Asking players to play through the entire story continuing through the first expansion or two isn't so bad. But as expansions pile up, that gets to be harder and harder to expect.

Just a consequence of the story telling. It's not a bad thing. It's just the difference between making the story flow together, or making smaller stories that have little bearing on each other. It's only a matter of opinion whether they made the right choice, and if you disagree with it, the game just might not be for you.