I love to build as much or more than flying. I've tried scratch building from plans. But frankly, I love the convenience of precut parts and hate buying poor quality balsa wood by the $tick.
Most people that fly rc once built from kits because they had to if they wanted to fly. But they hated every step and their planes never looked like the picture on the box lid. Many flew worse than they looked, some I recall being downright dangerous, lol. Since low cost ARFs from Asia hit our shores those folks swore off the kit built plane and never looked back. Some of the younger flyers at my current field are amazed when I tell them I built my airplane from sticks and sheet. This is not an old man rant. To the contrary, I consider myself an odd duck who likes glueing balsa! The market has finally evolved to fit the consumer. I've squirrelled away enough classic kits to keep me happy for another 20 years. If I run out I'll build from plans, reluctantly.