I hear you, and the reason the grass is greener on the other side of the fence is usually because it rains more there. Most people looking at the latest and greatest underestimate the the time the extreme functionality and versatility of Vrayhas taken and that it will take a long time for others to catch up with, if ever. Ironically I remember when Vray was seen as very user friendly.
Having said that, and by your own account acknowledging that the market is going towards more efficient and artist driven interfaces, I don’t think it necessarily has to do with matching other products as much as it has to do with creating an elegant front on your own. Res ipsa loquitur, artists are less and less willing to put in the effort anymore. If you would agree that Chaos perhaps traditionally has a more technical approach to the industry compared to newer players that now may appear to be more artist driven, it might not be such a bad idea with a panel to get alternative feedback. Instead of looking at it as ‘design by committee’, I think I’m more suggesting a ‘select power user in-depth survey’. We all know you have the best core.
I don’t know what SolidRocks does under the hood, but I’m really only using the preset and the slider. Most other buttons are for convenience, no numbers to be seen anywhere.