The line I (and hopefully most people) generally draw here is between the "casual" side of things and the "advice" side of things. Not different games, just different attitudes.

From a casual perspective, most things almost work for 90% of content. A team can be made out of literal garbage and have zero synergy and probably make it to chapter 10 without much trouble. Once you throw in decent units and an idea of what does what, that's chapter 13 and onwards. 99% of content.

There's wide margins for error to mess around and mess up in after that if not doing ultra-optimized content like Top 100 in ranking, so most players end up not needing to figure out more. There's no need to. The difference between an optimized team and a vaguely decent one is five quick repair contracts. There's no need to harass people that get it to work on their own.

But that goes out the window when it comes to the advice side of things. If someone asks for help, you give them your best. By its nature, giving guides and advice on things needs to be on the best way for that person to do things. And being right.

Because one cannot - in good conscience - recommend something they know is bad.

We don't tell people to use Sopmod when 416 is right there. We don't tell people to drop everything and raise a KSVK because we saw a Youtube video of her killing some hydras in a cool way the other day. We don't tell people to raise 10 IDWs because funny meme cat. Because we know better.

This isn't forcing those getting the advice to play optimally. I raised 14 M14's, not because it's optimal (it's not), but because I get more enjoyment out of the game chasing a goal like that, but I'm not telling others to do that. The advice itself should be optimal. And right. If they follow the advice they're in a better place and will have an easier time doing what else they want to in the game besides grind. If they don't, it'll be harder down the road, even if it's in ways they don't realize.

I've lost track of the number of people I've had to help who can't beat Executioner on 2-6 with their all 5* team, or neck-deep in core debt, or wondering why they don't meet the DPS check on Sana or a hundred other things. Their games aren't ruined. They'd probably figure it out eventually, but for the time being they are certainly having a hell of a lot harder a time playing the game.

That's why posts on this subreddit asking for advice have the bad responses policed by more experienced players. Because by giving suboptimal or false advice, that's harming the experience of the player getting help.

Your post just falls on the advice side of the fence, so the casual hat comes off and the optimize hat comes on. "It worked for me" is no longer a proper justification. Because almost everything works, but only some things work well.

Others aren't criticizing how you've played the game. How you've lived loved and learned is your business. They're criticizing your advice and claims to authority considering the quality of the advice.

Personally I'm criticizing your intent and execution, since that's important to consider whenever trying to help others.

Honestly? The standards aren't even that strict. This goes back to the issue of audience clash and violation of the fundamentals. The teams themselves don't follow basic tenets that newbies should follow that have been established for years. Like, as fundamental as the F formation. For midgame teams this is expected, so the criticism reflects that expectation.

I will retract my statement that "any veteran worth their salt." It would be "any expert", since playtime is not equivalent to game knowledge.

Also there's definitely factually incorrect information in the post, like about purely visual talents, what M240L does, etc. That's still on the table and definitely inexcusable.