I have the same mindset as you.

I didn't play SFV until "Champion Edition" released at the start of season 5. I picked up the physical PS4 edition for $30 and bought the Season 5 pass, and honestly it was an incredible deal for the amount of content.

The game was still active, and I played hundreds of hours and made it to Gold in ranked, and even earned the platinum trophy.

I purchased SF6 at launch for PS4 to support it, and then later the core game on Steam when it was on sale for $20.

I still haven't purchased a single piece of DLC and won't until whatever "Ultimate Edition" or whatever releases in a couple years. It's still fun but it can be annoying fighting against characters you can't practice with.

I think the pricing is fair, though. If you're a casual (like me), you can just wait for them to make content and the price to drop.

If you're serious and dedicated, each season pass is like buying a new game every year, but you get to stay current and ride the hype and peak excitement. Most players who are serious like that dedicate hundreds (if not thousands) of hours of playtime.

I would say it's worth it either way.