Yep. I'm quite biased on the subject. I find the Wheel of Time enthralling. I was bored with Sword of Truth after Wizard's First Rule. I find the WOT world to be deep. SOT just felt like Richard, Kahlan and Zedd were walking through an empty world with three cities, a town, and some Mud People. Unlike RJ who planned everything out in advance, it seemed to me like TG just sectioned off parts of his world and, once he'd resolved all the conflicts in the part he'd exposed to us, he then would just let a barrier fall and make the world bigger.

I'd be willing to forgive that if Terry Goodkind weren't such a prick about it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Campbell

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungian_archetypes

At the level of generality that you're talking about, most fantasy stories fit that mold. Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, Sword of Truth, Harry Potter, The Wheel of Time...

E: Though, I think it's inarguable that Terry Goodkind took some of his cues from Robert Jordan.