>> I may end up being able to start plants from seed
It might be different for every person, but for me, "it's easy except for overwatering".
Using flats to start seeds, and having to untangle roots, just freaks me out. It seems like doing surgery. But others find that easy and natural. (I usually use small cells so I don't have to untangle.)
Once I tried it the other way and it worked just fine as long as I untangled the seedlings on THEIR schedule, when THEY needed it. But it was still intimidating and I seldom do that now.
I don't mind starting seeds on a coffee filter and then dropping them into soil. But it's more work and the time window for transplanting safely is short, so I don;t bother.
Pre-soaking difficult seeds does help.
Maybe starting with some very easy species would work for you, or show you the one mistake you tend to make. Is there some "easy" species with a cultivar you would like, but whose plants are expensive or unavailable?
For me, starting from seed is probably the biggest "garden miracle" there is. Little things that look like a grain of black pepper or a mouse dropping go through some magic underground and then emerge as a baby plant! How is that not a miracle?
