I've noted the tendencies - that's why I have the preference, but they can still provide the guideposts when the better choice isn't available.
Yep - That simply handy. I do not use mods that often, but in some cases games or VN's are badly structured. I have played/read games/VN's where a seemingly completely unconnected choice, very early or even at the beginning, can have a negative outcome much later, or even lead to a terrible or depressing bad end.
Let's give a (hugely exaggerated) example: At the start of the game you buy a piece of candy, so at the end you survive. Why the hell is that? Well - Because by selling that piece of candy to you, the shop owner earned just enough money to buy a fire extinguisher, that he can use to prevent the shop from burning down. And unexpectedly that shop has the only piece of equipment hidden in the basement, that you need to prevent a fatal crash of your ship at the end of the game, and thus preventing an game over. A game over that forces you to replay the complete game from start to finish again. Yeah - It's a huge exaggeration of course, but you get the picture.
So - While I do not use a mod and/or a walk-through every time, I like to use them just to prevent these kind of user-unfriendly bad ends. I like to play a lot of games and read a lot of VN's, so I do not have a unlimited amount of time. Some games I know beforehand that need 2 or even some more play-through's to get the "real" ending. If I know that beforehand and think it's worth it, I will do that. You kannot predict that very often, sadly enough. I hate those moments at the end of a game where I fail and get the message I made the wrong choice hours and hours ago, so I have to replay all those several hours again. That's not fun and frustrating.
So yeah - Mods and walk-through's have their uses (and sadly more often than not).