You’re right, those choices are everywhere.
I find it a poor marketing strategy to make your existing product obsolete to sell new stuff. It works for toys like LEGO with rotation and limited shelf time, or GW; where jumping the gun on a new army will call for a 2nd and third mortgage, but for Malifaux where the next OP crew is a paltry €100-130 compared to collecting a full faction toolbox, it just seems like bad business, making it more likely to give new players a poor experience with the game.
Speaking for myself, in the end I’d much rather that my next purchase is a choice based on theme/aestethics of cool models, and that the accompanying rules provide me with a fun experience to play around with an aspect of the game system, rather than considering whether a purchase will guarantee a win or compromise my chances. I’ve got 22 crews in my collection, with more than a handful on my immediate ‘want’ list. I used to paint a crew/month, but I’m not buying anything these days because of rules creep – that’s €600 that I’ll burn on other hobbies, and not making those purchases will stop me from looking for what would come after collecting my most immediate ‘wants’.