I agree.

I set merge.ff = false and alias ff to merge --ff-only. I don't use pull but I do have pull.ff = only set, just in case someday I do.

The graph log and the first-parent log serve different purposes and possibly shouldn't be the same command conceptually; this varies by user preference but the first-parent log is more of a "good default", generally. Merges do say "Merge" at the start, after all.

This is what I advise people to do in consulting engagements, too, it's not one of my personal quirks.