Who are these people who told you this??
Apparently, they don't know everything.
First off, selfing and cloning is not the same.
Selfing is still a process where exchange and mixing of genetic materials take place, and there will be variations among the resulting progenies. They will not be exact same copies of the parent plant.
Second, selfing is not for beginners, but for anyone who wants to.
Last, I don't think Paphiopedilums are cloned.
They are all seed grown, and then some superior plants can be shared via dividing.