I've been fortunate to only have met a few oracle types, and regretfully, they have lived up (or is it down) to the oracle reputation.
Personally, I don't see the oracle complexity as value add. I see it more as an old, 1960's jaguar. In its day, it was a beauty, but it still requires a full time mechanic. The more advanced, modern database engines, such as SQL Server and DB2 are self-optimizing, smart systems.
What's the business problem you're trying to solve?