I prefer spellcasters, myself. I like having the option to decide just how much the occult part impacts my Sim's life, unlike Vampires and Werewolves where you can't avoid it. But other people prefer that challenge, and I applaud them for it. I will agree that Spellcasters are overpowered and don't really have any meaningful weaknesses, and for some people that's boring.
(I've also never been a fan of playing Vampires in any system. Never saw the appeal of it. 90% is either play a monster, or play angsty that you have to do monstrous things, neither of which are stories I want to explore.)
I do think Spellcasters are more popular than the Forums might indicate. Forums always tend to amplify the voices of the vocal, making certain aspects of the game seem more preferred/desired than actual play would indicate (twitter likewise.)
