It’s fortunate that Wizards of the Coast can’t keep it in their metaphorical pants and keeps trying to go for all of the money in the most obnoxiously predatory ways and has done so since at least 4th edition and its attempt at a virtual tabletop monopoly and “blind bag” miniature peddling.
I need to train myself to stop saying “D&D” for tabletop fantasy games because I am not going back again. I left before, and this time it’s permanent. Fuck WOTC. 
Ey, to each their own! A lot of that comes from tone setting, and you absolutely can run it as a meat grinder if you want to. I like it because it can be easy to drop in or out of, personally, as a new GM it’s nice.
Plus, I bought a sandbox module that seems to be more focused on political intrigue and revolution than outright horror, so I can swing it in another direction if I want.