I do agree with you about first person; I've sometimes switched stories from third to first or vice versa, and it's really interesting how some things are so much easier to write in first person. As a reader I'm not overly fond of it, which means that I don't use it all that often, but thinking about it, some of the most effective first-person novels I can think of are ones that take place in fairly complex sci-fi or fantasy worlds, thus requiring a lot of explanation. Hmm.