Personally think the modern approach to DLC is a lot better, all the major content is now free so the player base isn't split up in Premium vs Non-Premium users anymore, in the old days of paid DLC maps the DLC servers would mostly die after a few months as most would not get the DLC content, fracturing the community, and if you wanted all the content for say BF3/BF4/BF1 you ended up having to pay ~£80 for the game + Premium pass. Hard to complain about cosmetic only DLC imo, it basically creates a "Pay what you want" model for the DLC content, with all proper DLC free and those who want to spend more on meaningless stuff have that option too.
Combined with the cheap prices of BF games, usually available for under £30 before launch day on PC, with sales at <£15 within a year, it's hard to say it's a bad deal if that's what your into.
Personally I was a bit tired of the games by the time BFV came around, and I'm longing for a return to the modern era, but BF1 was a real blast at the time imo, not as serious or good gunplay wise as BF3/BF4(Though BF4 was a bit bloated) but a cinematic marvel and pure-fun chaotic experience where you could go one-man-army mode against hordes of noobs in an incredibly dynamic online experience, with each big MP game like a campaign mission in itself.