I think you hit the nail on the head when mentioning carry back. If you always intend to throw everything at the enemy, fine. But if you want to carry AMRAAM, TIALD, recce, brimstone etc back you need a proper deck to do a run on landing or you have to throw it all over the side before landing. A bloody expensive way of patrolling a no-fly zone from a carrier for example!
Nobody has that kind of vertical capability, not even JSF. So if you need a proper deck to bring it all back, why do you need STOVL in the first place?
But you are now back to bigger carriers, support etc.....
JF, as you say, nice, but who can afford it?