On the other hand, look at the Kickstarter campaign with all those stretch goals. These are specific points when the writers (and the supporting backers with their commentaries during the live period of the campaign) added material to the Core Rules. If those Stretch Goals had not been met (ha ha, fat chance!) then these sections would not have been put into the Alpha. And so never appear as part of the Core Rules. In essence these rules could all be viewed as Optional, because they were not in the original product as the Kickstarter opened. (a POV I would at least consider)
The following Stretch Goals explicitly stated they were to be additions to the CORE rules book. (In the previous run of TOR they mainly appeared in later supplements.)
7. Nameless things = RULES
10. An adventure = description
12. Magical Treasure = RULES
22, 23, 24, Patrons = RULES and Description
26. Custom sheets = player aid
27. Eye of Mordor = RULES
Both Magical Treasure and Eye of Mordor rules impact directly on play - expanding the pre Kickstarter Core system, and influencing the original Attributes, Cultures, Hope and Shadow rules. Nameless Things is much more of a pure add on, not feeding back into the Core.
When I read Optional rules in any system, I have found them to be another insight into the intent of the rulemakers in general. And although I certainly agree that such extra rules are not guaranteed to make things 'better' I will more than happily take them as bonus information. The key for me is that such information is organised inside the rule book so as not to jumble up the Necessary Core with many forward and backward references.
For example, I actually view the Council Rules as Optional. They introduce a mechanic nicely - the 3, 6 , 9 Rolls for Successes idea. But other than that, the details and the discussions on the forum reinforce my first impression that they are an answer to a problem that didn't exist. (YMMV) Fortunately the Council Rules are discreetly positioned in the body of the text, and are easy to by-pass. Good rule design and layout. Even though the roots are not being stuck to.