Like so many things in the backpacking world, different people like different things --- the shoes that are perfect for me are terrible for you, etc.

I guess stakes are, to some degree at least, the same. I carried MSR needle stakes on the PCT this year and still love them.

I found them very strong; I often pounded them in with a rock into dense and rocky soil and never bent or broke one or even seriously crunched the tip. In contrast, the hollow round light stakes that came with my Tarptent Contrail quickly crunched flat on the tips when pounded in with a rock.

The needle stakes can "nest" --- put the needle tip of one into the hook end of another. Put two side by side like that with a single rubber band and you have a single unit of stakes that has only smooth ends; I carry them this way in the external mesh of my pack or just anywhere without fear of sharp pokes into my delicate gear.

I don't find that they hurt to put in --- I use a rock or push them in with the sole of my shoe. I didn't have any problem with the hooks, but I'm not sure what's meant by "webbing" --- I just have light cord that's part of my tent to be held by the hook at the top.

No needle stake is going to have the holding power of a bigger, heavier stake, but for me these are an excellent trade off. In those cases where I've had holding power trouble, using a big rock on top (or sometimes instead) of the stake always did the trick.

Rootball, to be clear, I'm not posting this to say "You're wrong" (!) --- I'm sure you've thought about the trade-offs and ultimately just came to a different conclusion. For those trying to select among gear choices, it's great to have different points of view to consider.