I fit this article exactly. I grew up at the dawn of videogames and I do love to play them. But with a job and family it really can be tough to get through a long and deep CRPG.
Consider two very different games - Gothic 3 and Oblivion. Both were released in 2006. I like games like Gothic 3 more than I do games like Oblivion. That isn't to say I didn't like Oblivion, just that I liked Gothic 3 more as its gameplay features and stronger narrative are more intersting to me.
But back in 2006 I had a lot going on. I started and stopped G3 twice, each time with many months passing by before I came back to the game. And each time when I came back I was just lost and started over again. It wasn't until my 3rd attempt sometime in 2007 when I actually finished the game - I broke my ankle and was out of commission for 2 weeks and so I had the time to marathon through it.
Oblivion on the other hand - I played just 1 playthrough of the game over about a 4 year period. Many times stopping for weeks and months at a time. But the way Oblivion was setup, it was so easy to just pick up where I left off.
So while I like a game like G3 better than Oblivion (and G1 and G2 even moreso), G3 was terribly difficult to resume after taking an extended break. With Oblivion's quest system, hand=holding and all, it was just easier to get back into.
I'm always a big supporter of games accomodating different play styles. For those with the time and inclination, they should be able to make their game more challenging by being able to increase combat difficulty and turning off hand-holding features.
But for people like me, it's nice when a game is setup where I can leave it for a really long time but come back later and be able to resume where I left off. If I had the time, I wouldn't mind maximum challenge - I have had my fun back in the day doing things like mapping Wizardry 1 dungeons. I just don't have that kind of time anymore.