Although I don't disagree with your sentiment, not being able to handle x1/+0 on a 50+1 IO'd Elec^3 Blaster (after the I24 buffs) is...kinda bad. I always felt weak on my Elec^3, but I could certainly handle more than x1/+0 (I never got the chance to try him on I24 Beta 
).
On the other side of the coin, I had a elec^3 blaster I was running +1 or +2/x8 even before becoming incarnate. And my IO build, I'd call a bit haphazard. I was lazy when IOs came out so my build was "what sort of sets can I fit in for some decent bonuses without requiring me to respec. And then there's also I tend to lean more towards concept over build. So I did things like every attack that could take it, I put in the stun proc from the end mod set (can't remember the name off hand). And with elec^3 that's almost every single attack
I remember running in a SG team, and after running a few missions, someone wanted to see what a farm mission was like since they hadn't done one before. One person had one, so we went in, the majority the team never having experienced one before. Lots of death. I was on a low level def at the time (not even able to slot DOs yet) I said I was going to bring on some who was a bit more durable. Came back with my elec blaster. First comment I saw when I reentered the mission' "You wanted someone more durable and you got a blaster?"
Short circuit + power sink + ball lightning, everything was down to brawl. After mowing through a few groups, I got the comment "OK, you weren't kidding about the more durable thing"
It is all anecdotal, everyone has a story of where they couldn't do something with one type of character, followed by someone who says they were a killing machine, a lot comes down to personal okay style and interest. Like, I never could get the hang of playing a Kheld. Which of course means, someone will come along saying something like "I soloed the AVs in the STF with my PB!"
