Sure... the reality is they likely won't though... I simply suspect, in practical terms, if anyone is going to do anything with it, it'll be on the basis I alluded to.

Personally, I'd rather the advanced stuff is still there, so the likes of BB can still extend it...

...and the likes of me can manage to glean a little bit more than I might otherwise about how things are actually working under the hood.

To contribute yet another terrible analogy to a thread already laden with them... the closest I get to motor mechanics these days is changing the washer fluid. I don't generally even change the oil myself.

But if I get a choice of a car whose bonnet opens up and one which doesn't, I'd generally pick the former...

...that preference maybe isn't entirely rational of me. But, I have it...

 

EDIT: Sorry re-reading your post Laurie, and Basicwiz's I suspect I misinterpreted...?

...so in that sense, yes, it would be better, I suspect if SM actually implemented the idea of an intermediate mat room, sure.

In terms of just abandoning the nodes underneath. I don't think they should do that...

...and I really do think BB's shader work should be encompassed into the necessary presets in any intermediate preset-type system too.