Personally, I see the needlessly oversized paper tickets as a large step backwards. When tickets on trains were issued by Sportis machines (where the poor guard had to carry around multiple fares manuals with them), the paper tickets were the same size as the card ones and fitted nicely in a ticket wallet.
To highlight the ridiculous size of the paper roll tickets, here is a comparison image of a modern paper roll ticket (noticeably faded) alongside an older 'Sportis' paper ticket and the standard card ticket.
