well, i'd say the packages are configured in a well considered order to allow you doing *something* from the first package on.
moving to the new product line (Vienna Instruments) was compelling from my point of view, because the samplers and further options for the (midi based) performance tool have reached a certain limit (especially if features should be the same for all platforms).
eg. the opus bundle still allows good work to be done, but extending it to the functionality of say the special edition is not realistic.
some of you have been not too enthusiastic to see a proprietary format arriving with the new prduct line, but this allows further development based on controllable conditions without dependencies on third party engines/samplers/features. means i'm pretty confident we will see the Vienna Instruments format at least as long as the formats for the *old* sample libraries.
so time will tell if the 1 package subscription is useful for someone or not - imagine pupils or students who often have to be careful spending their money ....
christian