I am really enjoying this thread. 
Both of these were things I fell into once I went from VFX as an Impossible aspiration, to VFX as “I can do this as a job”. The problem with being a…
… is that, for me at least, coming into this matrix blind meant I wanted to learn all the things before I got started. I didn’t know my options, and not for a lack of trying. I didn’t know I didn’t need to know certain things right out the bat to make an effect. Nuance tends to be lost on beginners, and I was no exception to this. In fact, seeing all the ways people were making VFX was a deceptive burden, as it then become “Oh I have to learn this too to make VFX.” Monkey see, monkey do. Even though I knew better not to push it, my… obsession… it has been written here, pushed me into that traffic anyway.
If Niagara is any indication, then this field is only getting more complex as we find ourselves with more control. This is why I’ve advocated as I have in this thread and elsewhere for some base fundamentals to start from. If who we are is as cut and dry as this thread would imply, then it is imperative for the next generation of VFX artists to have some sort of a direction, lest some shall fall into the same time-sucking pit as I did. Something to help show by hands on example you don’t need much to start making great looking VFX. It’s really hard to see that sometimes. As complex as all this can get, which I probably can’t even fathom right now as I write this, I’ve found that in essence there is a beautiful simplicity to Realtime VFX creation that’s not being shown, or… at least showcased often. It gets drowned out among all the bells and whistles. And… It’s a big internet.
If you don’t know anything about a field, how do you know what to choose? What’s important?
(Sidethought: VFX techniques should also be a RT VFX Contest Subject.)