Many years ago, I was part of the "must have freestanding" crowd, but the last 10 years or so, I've been in the "who cares" brigade. Non-freestanding tents, when staked out, are quite stable and comfortable. You can't pitch them on solid rock, though (but solid rock isn't that comfortable anyhow.)

The big thing is that freestanding tents usually have to be staked out, too, if you want to use the vestibules or maximize ventilation. The fly tends to sag against the pole structure if you don't stake it out with guy lines, and most vestibules have no pole structure.