But I've told a lot of people this Gen just isn't for most vets to the series. This Gen is a pretty obvious soft entry point for a new and broader fanbase. I just wish the pricing was better.

I don't disagree with anything else you said but I strongly believe every main series pokemon game is an entry point for as broad of an audience as they can rake in. It's pokemon, the simplicity has always been one of its strongests assets in reaching a wide audience...
If Sw/Sh is barren in content is because it needed more time in the oven but they decided it would be more profitable to release the most basic skeleton of a pokemon game by november because the vast majority of their very casual audience won't even notice anything's missing and then sell the post-game as DLC to their more hardcore audience who's starved for something more substantial to sink their teeth into.
I'm just so tired of seeing the argument that "oh this is just a lighter entry than usual to ease people into the series". I've heard people say that about XY for its incredibly easy story and lack of postgame, Sun and Moon for its endless cutscenes/tutorials and extreme linearity, LGPE for sticking to 151 pokemon and simplifying mechanics by omitting stuff like natures and items... And now Sw/Sh. At which point does it stop being a one time thing to ease new fans into the series and start looking like a trend?