Why go gen? If I had tons of excess money, you would certainly not see me here
Seriously speaking, I love the hunt, seeing the latest releases and modding my favorite models that get so close to the gen with a little work. NOBODY knows the difference if I am wearing rep or gen, so why should I go gen? I personally wish I could have a bunch of gens, but at this time I focused on getting my grail, and for SS watches I really see no point in going gen unless it is something impossible to rep (think Sky Dweller SS, GMT Pepsi etc.)
I really enjoy this hobby, and it seems a bit of a pain to even get a gen Rolex these days. I for one am really upset with the way Rolex is doing business these days. The AD's only get a minute qty of Steel watches (hottest sellers) and have to turn down people that come in with fists full of money or try to upsell them to two tone/gold models. Recently an AD said I would need to wait about 10 years for a SS GMT Pepsi. Come on.