Water wrote:
TWO MINUTES
That isn't nearly enough time for a decent match. Maybe you'll get a kill or two, but a good standard for timed matches is 6-7 minutes. Sometimes, my friends and I will add stocks as a little bit of variety.
Water wrote:
FINAL DESTINATION
That's bullshit, because characters with a projectile automatically have an advantage over non-projectile characters. Though I believe some stages should never, ever be played (such as Big Blue in Melee, and Mario Bros/75m in Brawl), I'm not big enough of a dick to refuse my opponents to choose them if they want to (I do complain each time, though). Also, we usually set the stage-picking option to 'Turns', so each one of us gets to pick a stage for an equal number of times.
Water wrote:
NO ITEMS
This is the only thing that I'm absolutely fine with. You mention that the addition of items somewhat levels the playing field (over many, many matches), and makes it so winning doesn't particularly matter. If that is what you enjoy, then good for you, but I'd much rather play without items (or at least with certain, absolutely broken items turned off). I enjoy beating my opponent(s) not because I got lucky and an uber item spawned near enough to me to get and rape my opponent(s) with, but rather because I've learned how to play well enough with my character(s) to overcome the skill of my opponent.
Water wrote:
NO CHANGING CHARACTERS INBETWEEN MATCHES
I honestly could care less if my opponents picked a different character each round. Obviously, it would be annoying if they picked Pikachu or Zamus after I picked Fox and began the match, but I just learn to deal with that. Maybe I shouldn't be picking that character as often.
Water wrote:
I want this game to be fun.
Remember, not everyone shares your opinion on how it should be fun.
Water wrote:
The rest, well, Brawl, much like Mario Kart, is supposed to be fun for inexperienced players.
That's purely a personal opinion, not a fact. The Super Smash Bros. series is often associated with a more casual gaming audience, because of how easy it is for a complete noob to pick up a controller and not die (when compared to other fighting games), but that doesn't mean players can't develop a level of skill to play the series on a more competitive level. Some may like messing around with random stuff and not really care about the outcome, while others enjoy being able to win in a non-fluky environment. It can work both ways.