There used to be a plugin or script around somewhere that let you create your own primitives. Can't find it in a quick search though. But I'll keep an eye out.
Here's a script I wrote for an artist at GPG that had similar complaints. Unzip it to your UI/Macroscripts folder, restart Max, and then make a button for it. It's pretty self-explanatory, just makes primitives with more game-friendly defaults. quickPrimitives.zip