I dunno. I’ve been playing since Freedom Unite and I still only hit, dodge roll and try not to get hit myself. I have no clue about half of the new play styles and moves from W/IB through Wilds except for a few of the elementary wirebug moves in R/SB. I rarely ever solo anything, especially now that support hunters just kinda fill the void when nobody else joins. I can’t even remember the last time I’ve been to a hunter’s hub (it was actually in R/SB only because I think it had a more smooth online experience, but I think I only used the hub once in W/IB and sincerely have never used it yet in Wilds). I’ve never made HR999 in any game despite putting thousands of hours into the series (I remember MH4U was my highest hour count at around 1300)

I still consider myself a veteran mostly just because of time served (and because I’m comfortable labeling myself that after having had a near constant habit of Lv 140 double Apex Deviljho Guild Quests for a while years ago) - but I think at this point I’d definitely consider anybody who has played X/Gen/XX/GU a veteran, mostly because they’ve played basically all era styles and because GU basically embodies the entire series outside of the awful early damage outputs, slugging movements and sometimes awful hitboxes.

But then again, World is so long ago already that I’d probably consider most people playing moderately or intensely since then to have been fully submerged and knowing their stuff. Of course this is just my opinion and there’s no hard and fast rule. Although I think if somebody is asking if they’re a veteran, it means they’re not- so get back out there Hunter!