Well, that’s the strange thing, isn’t it? When Rumpel/Gold was acting as the simple, black and white villain, he didn’t seem to have many fans. But after Desperate Souls and Skin Deep aired, he developed one of the biggest fan bases in the entire fandom. So, judging by numbers, Rumpel is actually better at playing the sympathetic villain or the anti-hero. Most of the admiration his character recieves is based off of his actions in Skin Deep, Desperate Souls and even The Return. I think the audience prefers to do what the writers have clearly done: Keep him in the middle. Between good and evil. He always makes for a good villain, but people tend to respond to a more sympathetic, or evil anti-heroic character, as opposed to the simple, stereotypical villain.