Justin: Keep in mind that when the Zone System was developed there were no VC papers or even various grades of paper-only Grades 2 or 3 at best. Then we had to tailor the neg to the paper. It still is worth it when shooting large format, as the much-improved quality of the print justifies the time, work and expense.(posted 8368 days ago)Now, with VC papers, the + or - developing can be made up for in printing, especially if one uses filters for local contrast control in burning in. There is no substitute for a "properly" exposed and developed negative, except perhaps one that is overexposed a bit and underdeveloped a bit. The shadows get well exposed and the highlights are not burned out. A better answer that I have found is to use a compensating developer such as split D23 which increases the tonal range by as much as 3-4 steps. If you are really interested I can explain that.
Cheers