Yeah I am glad we have a choice as well, I just hated when I was doing gtk themes that I had to make sure they fit right with all the shells and xfce and whatever else uses gtk. It was a pain in the u know what!!!! hehe!
I agree with you about the gtk, there seem to be major changes with each version. I don't know that I care to spend the time to bring some of my themes up to date just to see them broken again with 3.8.
Maybe this winter my routine will change & I'll dabble again.
I liked xfce & gnome, but gnome shell just suits me. Most comfortable & intuitive interface I've used in the past 30 years.
I realize it's very subjective, I'm just grateful that with linux I have choices.
Maybe this winter my routine will change & I'll dabble again.