'Virtual' Copies to (optionally) start all settings from 0

Question

I would like to have the ability to make a 'virtual' copy that looks like the current image, except that all the sliders/settings start at 0.  This is different from making the original virtual copies and resetting the sliders/settings, which would just bring it back to the imported version.  This is like actually having a virtual copy of the current image as it is, rather than a virtual copy of the original image with the same settings applied - a subtle but very important difference.
The reason for this is so that presents would be A LOT more useful.  Say you have a preset for B/W that'll kick up the exposure to +0.5 and the blacks to 20.  If you had to do that in the first place just so the image looks 'normal', then applying the preset may not actually do anything for you - some shots may need a +1 exposure adjustment on their own, so that in effect the preset should result in a +1.5 exposure adjustment over the original, whereas if you apply the preset to the current implementation of Virtual Copies, you end up dropping to +0.5 instead of actually going up an additional +0.5
To get around this and to have some consistent results in my images (by using presets), my current workflow is driving me crazy.  I end up importing all my RAWs, adjusting exposure, contrast, etc., and then exporting the files to JPG.  Then I import them all, and apply my presets, but that's so tedious and I have to export twice.
Please, please help and implement this.
Thanks for listening.  I love the product, btw
PS - Another way to get around this would be to allow the option for presets to be relative rather than absolute.  Ex: The B/W preset will do an actual increase of 0.5 to the exposure and an increase of 20 to the blacks.  That would be great too, and might actually be preferrable.

Answer 1

This seems to be a very frequently requested feature, and fo rus it would certainly be the #1 missing functionality.
We use Lightroom to work on large batches of event/wedding photographs, all taken in RAW format.
1. With current 'absolute' presets, there's no telling what it will do to any given photograph: a "antique photograph" preset will do wildly different thing to a photograph under tungsten, as to a photograph under sunlight or fluorescent or flash.
2. Similarly, our workflow is interrupted: instead of being able to colour/exposure correct all images and then apply a preset to this _fixed_, 'normalized' version, for consistency of look; we have to play with images one by one, or go to workarounds like export/import: all of which defeat the point of Lightroom as a workflow-enhancing app.