I've had the same feelings about freestanding vs. non-freestanding tents. But after setting up a freestanding tent on rocky soil I couldn't get a peg into to save my life, I realized rocks and guy lines were my friends. But to feel really secure, I had to get at least 4 rocks to make it work with my 4 cornered freestanding tent.

I was able to get a good pitch with the spitfire in the living room, minus the fly, just by attaching cords to each end and tying them to heavy objects to pull the tent taut. That and the majority of places I camp are on soft ground anyway. As I have it set now, I can pitch this tent with 4 stakes. The two hoop poles pull the tent pretty tight across the center, so they don't really need to be staked down unless you're in some major, major wind. And use the last two stakes if you're going to put the fly on, because it stakes out away from the tent on either side. In a lot of ways, I think it will make life on the road/trail a lot easier.