I hear you. I like messing around with all of it too. However, i was getting down to, at the end of everyday, me not wanting to mess with stuff and just sit down and use a computer.
However, arch is a great base. I messed around with it a few years ago. And found that the KISS, really was not about keeping it simple. Well, it keeps it simple for some people, and i know who, however it is not me. But, i think they should have called it "from the ground up" instead. I'm not a hater of arch whatsoever, the repository, package manager, and even the maintaining of the packages is fantastic with arch. Because it's such a pain in the ass to set up (compared to debian...i just didn't prefer setting arch up manually) this is why i have high hopes for arch distributions. The base of their os is solid and great, i know they will spin off many great distributions.
However, even at the end of the day. Even for people who are used to messing around with stuff. I like to put stuff into a highlight. That being if i can turn on the computer and expect no problems and just type up a report, play a game, whothe****cares. That's what i found i really want. I can **** with linux any day no problem. But, for my own systems, i have enough life going on to keep me busy, that the last thing to keep me busy that i desire is my computer.
In retrospect, arch is a great base. I highly anticipate more distributions using it as a base and being successful at it. It will bring the arch base more maturity in the area of at least a damn package manager frontend for the damn thing (which is what i find really lacking in arch aside from more distributions using it as a base).