Veterans, Late Adapters, and Quality of Games.

[Maelstrom]

And this doesn't fit into the idea of this topic how? That was my point and now you're arguing it for me.

[Chase]

Flux, I think what Mael is trying to point to here is that my thread wasn't simply aimed at criticizing nostalgia. I incorporated being both new and inveterate to a franchise as two sides of the same coin when it comes to gaming discourse.

The game-play split in Melee and Sm4sh is a relevant topic here when taking casual players into account. Sure, you can say that Melee's competitive aspects and niche in gaming are unique - but they don't change the fact that this discussion about other franchises doesn't mirror which smash game is preferred over another smash game.

You do bring a good point about features that seemingly didn't make the cut in newer installments - and axed features are a reason Smash seemingly thrives the most in an older generation in the series whereas Fire Emblem's popularity is still riding the recent boom. However, I wouldn't attribute that as anything special in it of itself. I know a lot of people that are avid players of "Old School" RuneScape as opposed to "Runescape" (called RS3 by most people who played RS for a good while.) because competitively it was easier to player-kill back in 2007 than it is in the current game. Before Old School long ago there was still active "RuneScape Classic" servers, or the first iteration of the MMO.

Game-play is, probably more than anything else, a reason one person prefers one game in the franchise over another. Competitively appealing or otherwise. It still fits under the tent.