Here is my personal opinion, let me know what you think of it.
I have done every kind of xbox mod. I do modchip installs, TSOP installs, and softmods. To me, there is no easier/harder way to do either one. Because every method requires a personal investment of time and patience and searching and reading topics. If you want to put a modchip in your xbox, you better be looking for a good installlation tutorial and reading that particular modchip's forum. If you're going to TSOP your xbox, you better be looking in the TSOP forum. If you're softmodding your xbox, you better be looking in the exploits or xbe forum.
With each mod method, there comes risks and rewards, but the risks are always ignored because of impatience and ignorance. Just like you guys said, most newcomers to modding the xbox are people who hear about it and try to do it without ever reading anything. The only reason why there are more softmod related problems is because there are more softmods. If we took a poll on how your xbox is modded, then I would guarantee that softmod is ranked the highest. I myself have two softmodded xboxes and one TSOP'ed xbox. I originally had a chip and it broke. The truth is, the most popular mod is the softmod, and when done correctly, will allow you to do everything that a modchip or TSOP can. It's the people's ignorance that creates the problems, not the softmods themselves.
Softmods are a great way to mod your xbox if you read before you do it. They have evolutionized the xbox modding community and gained so many more members from the mainstream (whether that is a good or bad thing, I don't know). Without softmods, we would have half the userbase and maybe some of those people will end up really getting into it and becoming great members who contribute their knowledge to others. Softmods will never be taken off these forums, and for good reason. To completely abolish an entire method of modding the xbox would be ridiculous and stupid.
As for fixing problems, it comes down to reading again. When you have a shakey hand and pull a trace, you just need a little patience and tracking down to find the two ends to solder the wire onto.
**SIDENOTE: I was modding an xbox with what later turned out to be a used modchip with two bad flashes. I took a shower with the chip in, and my friend decided to take the chip out by just pulling on all the wires without heating up the joints. << That's the reasons why we have so many questions on the forums **
When you fudge a softmod, it's just a matter of learning how to hotswap and use XboxHDM. (most of the time)
In my eyes, I like fixing both hardware and software problems. I love repairing traces because it presents a challenge for me. Software doesn't require as much "skill" but requires more problem-solving brain power, which is another challenge that I like.
