I dunno, my five-year-old son has no problem what-so-ever re-purposing those specific elements to be whatever he wants in completely different contexts. If anything, all the newer pieces seem to make Legos much more flexible than they were back in my day (the late 70s).
It certainly has been a good marketing move for Lego -- despite having more Legos than I ever had, he still wants more, more, more -- but in no way has it been a damper on creativity.
Well, true, no, I would always have loved to have a few more sets. :)
But I don't remember it ever being that big a deal; certainly when I had money, I rarely (if ever) spent it on Lego sets. On the other hand, it verges on all-consuming passion for my boy. (Complete with comments like "This set has a piece I don't have in it!")
That said, I absolutely love the creativity he shows playing with them.
It certainly has been a good marketing move for Lego -- despite having more Legos than I ever had, he still wants more, more, more -- but in no way has it been a damper on creativity.