I haven't used AutoCAD for many years (mostly 3d modeling), but recently it was 'forced upon me'. So, I tried using Annotative dims and discovered that they are COMPLICATED. Apparently, some IDIOT planned this without consulting people who work in the REAL WORLD.

Over the years I discovered that software developers, in an attempt to WIN MARKET SHARE, have been cutting corners (shoddy work product), and thereby foisting upon their customers STUPID IDEAS that are supposed to save them time and energy when they make drawings. Ha! They're just GETTING IN THE WAY OF PRODUCTIVITY and GLOBBING-UP their software with UNNECESSARY GARBAGE that BOGGS DOWN THE COMPUTER. It's like a bloated GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRACY: full of social parasites that suck the life out of the working people of society.

Anyways ...

I've been using AutoCAD since version 10 (late 80's). In the process, over the years, I developed my own method of using viewports and dimension styles to make sure the text fits the VP scale. It's simple. I make one standard dim style and copy it with a new Measurement Scale. Then I use each dim style on a separate layer that is named by scale (and vary the layer colors slightly). Then I dimension everything in MODEL SPACE. The PS viewport does only one thing: PRESENTATION OF VIEW TO SCALE. That way I can do basic DRAFTING according to the usual STANDARDS of any DRAFTSMAN.

The purpose of CAD software is to MAKE MY JOB (as a draftsman) EASIER NOT MORE DIFFICULT. Annotation dimensions make my job  MORE COMPLICATED, no doubt, so I don't use it. Simple AutoCAD is a very powerful tool for basic 2d drafting. But on a side note, it SUCKS at 3d modeling and drafting. If Autodesk could make AutoCAD like Inventor part modeling sketching, it would be a step in the right direction.

Just my 2 cent's for what it's worth ...