I believe patterning is worth the time. It saves me $$ and frustration. I am rural and am able to do it out the back door. If you were closer I'd invite you over and you could pattern to your hearts content.
I don't like figuring out where my shot is hitting through trial and error (wounded fowl).
I'd rather spend a dollar or two more per box, continue to use the same shells that I know are working well and know what my rds are doing rather than buying what is on sale.
There are a couple of brands I will never purchase again, a box of one brand came with 1/4 of the shells that contained only half the shot. Easy to tell as the face of each shell was very concave. I still have them. I sent photos to the company and never received any kind of reply.