I think it's fair for these sprawling fantasy style to be criticized for pacing issues. I have a very good appreciation for self-contained series that were at a high level of completion before publishing now. "The Wheel of Time" has many points where maximum drama and the interesting ways scenes could play out was squandered because either not enough attention was given to them or they were treated as side notes. Some main characters seem to be added for three of four main highlights with miniature personality or character moments sprinkled in between, and over a sprawling epic it just doesn't work as well unless you know exactly where to place certain scenes.

I grew up with the series, reading it just after "Dragonlance", and while I can appreciate a large cast of characters, it seems to me that some of them would best be left for other stories or series, and others could have their roles combined for the purposes of this one. The series definitely feels big but not always in a good way. I compare it to having all of the characters from "Dragonlance", "Forgotten Realms" and "The Black Company" books in one mega-series and trying to have them all have good character arcs. Definitely possible, but I don't think any but the best writing team (and I definitely mean to imply "team" as in plural) could really accomplish it.