Everybody assumes DLC will be a thing but we don't actually have any proof the game's going to have it. The guy from the most recent leak said he was lying about the fact that Smash 4 will have DLC, didn't he?
I just wish Nintendo would make the game more about us and not about them. Having been on the hype train for the past year now and watching the roster and stuff revealed bit by bit, Sakurai's dev choices really give off the impression that he cares more about surprises than he does about giving people what they actually want. I guess I just wish Nintendo would just stop playing games and make a game with a nice big roster, with the characters people have been clamoring for, and *then* throw in a few curveballs if they want. A big roster is the only way to make everybody happy and ensure high quality at the same time. And I worry, that because of the choice to keep the roster relatively small, there will be many many fans left extremely disappointed like what happened in the Brawl days. I dislike seeing unhappy players especially when there's no real apparent reason for it other than hubris. *sigh*
First off, DLC could still be a thing. People fake leaked MK8 DLC and now we're getting real DLC.
Second, you're not considering anything about the actual development. It's not like they purposely don't add characters. I mean, you realize tons of people wanted Little Mac, Rosalina, Bowser Jr., an Animal Crossing vet, Lucina/Robin, Palutena, Mega Man, Pac-Man and even Dark Pit, right? And people wanted Shulk too.
The only oddballs were Wii Fit Trainer & Duck Hunt Dog. Everyone else was a highly requested character.
Brawl already proved that tons of characters get considered, then cut or not implemented for one reason or another. I mean, at least 9 characters, probably more, were confirmed to be planned for Brawl at one point that didn't make it. The reason characters don't make it has a lot to do with time, difficulty in developing them or their movesets and making them actually enjoyable to play. Then factor in balancing 50+ characters and so on.
It's not like Sakurai purposely shafts the 'hype 3' or Isaac or characters that became Assist Trophies instead. He either had no ideas yet, had no time or they weren't a good fit yet. Simple as that. Just like Lucas & Wolf not getting added to Melee.
SSB has always been about fans. Fans of Nintendo. Not loud and specific character fanbases that don't represent the whole. Believe it or not, not everyone cares/wants Ridley, not everyone likes DKC/wants K.Rool or Dixie, and not everyone sees a reason to revive Mewtwo or add more Pokemon.
This roster is very much for fans, outside of cuts, and it covers a lot of bases. And it's not relatively small. We have a fighting game with nearly 50 Nintendo characters, containing 16 characters who were not in Brawl. The only fighters that really rival that are like, DBZ games and MvC2.
Fans aren't disappointed because of something Sakurai did, but becuse they had unrealistic expectations that they take out on Sakurai.
Anyone honesly disappointed was dreaming too big for a roster full of villains, one-offs and obscure-ass characters.