That is funny. I don't mean to criticize your way of working, I am just used to writing and "writing" instead of playing MIDI is a natural extension of it.
It is not true that live players are always better though. VSL samples are now better sounding when used properly than live ensembles until you get to a great orchestra's level - such as a major symphony orchestra or a top level studio orchestra. As I have said many times here and nobody believes, the norm in orchestral playing is NOT what you are used to hearing on film soundtracks and CDs and TV. People (I don't mean you, just a lot of people) have gotten used to an abnormally high level of virtuosic playing as a result of the mass distribution of music, and they assume that is what happens normally when musicians get together to form an orchestra. It doesn't. The norm is all the other orchestras - vastly more in number - that play slightly out of tune, insert wrong notes here and there, execute hasty or poorly phrased expressions, etc. And I am NOT talkng about extremely low level student orchestras, I am talking about orchestras you would have a hard time getting to play your music that represent sizeable communities. Those middle tier orchestras comprise most of all orchestral playing. Composers - before VSL - had to use them and have their music represented poorly. But with VSL, it is now possible to do something beautiful in performance quality just as soon as it is composed!
I also find it difficult not to digress...