The key is...can you sleep when you need to? If you can (and I can) then international is great. If not...well it is not so great.
I agree with everything that you said, but I'd like to comment on the "can you sleep when you need to" question.
What has worked for me is to not force myself to sleep, but to simply sleep whenever I'm tired. I've found that the layovers are long enough that I can catch plenty of sleep without ever having to force myself to wake up. I might miss the afternoon crew field trip if I sleep in, but I can always catch up with them at the Pub later.
The two to three hour nap inflight is also very helpful.