D&D General D&D 3.5 - splatbook power creep or no?

[Maxperson]

That requires me to understand every nook and cranny of rules to know that when player says a combo they do it is actually broken and not all of them are as simple and obvious as Cancer Mage with Festering Anger.

Game play quickly reveals it. Broken things can't be kept secret and aren't hard to spot when they rear their ugly heads. There's simply no need to know every nook and cranny to recognize when something is broken in play.