Odd. Apparently, we're expected to be skipping tracks more than listening to them.

Yeah, and that's why I want this manual rating / weighted shuffle functionality so much. When I'm skipping a song, it doesn't mean I don't like that song, it just means I don't want to hear it at that particular time, or as often as I want to hear another song. A shuffle that favors my favorite songs will (probably) require less skipping. As long as there's enough of a random factor thrown in, I don't think it'll overplay favorite tunes, either. It's all about increasing the chances that a track suits my mood at that time, thus decreasing wear and tear on my player's right front panel button.