Yup, back in the day memory overclocking was serious adventure.
(1) Ram Tweakers Version DDR3 | TechPowerUp Forums
(1) RAM Tweakers thread | TechPowerUp Forums
That being said, I like to think that things are just "different" now. Less brute force overclocking, and more subtle massaging to squeeze every little bit out of sticks, Also, if you don't buy sticks where you know exactly what you are getting i.e. only buy Samsung B-die and using Thaiphoon and timing calculators it can be way more fun. I think the knowledge of exactly what you are going to get is at least partially responsible for the lack of excitement with DDR4. I think that's what's made this Mushkin kit fun. With Thaiphoon reporting the IC's as "undefined", it's forced me to discover everything on my own, which is kind of like "the old days". I'll test that theory when I start playing with a new set of Ballistix Elite 4000 sticks that should be here tomorrow. These sticks have plenty of info out there on exactly how to tweak them.