I swore off house rules in board games for 5 years, then my group in Austin played my copy of Catan with one and I had to admit I was wrong | Board Game Geeks - Hub Chatter
Funny how that works with anything you hold too tightly. People do the same with recipes, workout plans, driving routes. You get so sure your way is the right way that you stop seeing what actually works better. Five years is a long time to dig in on something that small. The games were probably more fun and you just didn't want to give up the argument.