I think stat growths really ruined both Micaiah and Eliwood. She turned out all right for me, but not stellar, not compared to most of the rest of the army. But Eliwood is notoriously bad with his stats. No strengths for forever, etc etc. I was talking a while back about how stat growths probably directly impact how people feel about characters, at least at first. It's easy to like characters like Hector who are fun, have a more "modern" personality/outlook, and, most importantly, are pretty much badass right from the get-go in-game.

I agree with you though--FE only really shines with its characters. I don't know anyone who would play the game for any other reason. But people like to spend time bashing characters. It's so dull. Kind of ruins everyone's fun.