and i'd rather play the devs version and their success i.e. my $$$$ depends on them getting it right.
Let me present one other viewpoint here. NASCAR. Nascar has oogles of sliders for adjusting the car. They are however, actual set-ups and modifications to the car, not to the game.
So why aren't the sliders tuned to the players instead of the game? For example, instead of having a slider to increase defensive tackles...why not have a "slider" that designates the amount of time spent in the weightroom and tackling dummies and another part of their game must suffer like speed or play knowledge etc.
That would be an example of if devs were not using sliders as "crutches" (and yes I know you don't agree with that point) perhaps they would spend time using their ingenuity to replace sliders and the need for sliders with actual in-game functions/training?
Is that a middle ground we could perhaps settle on regarding the topic of sliders?