because both sides view their way of playing as being the correct way, and ipso facto the others are therefore wrong
as far as casual gamers vs. challenge seekers go, there can never be any real reconciliation between the two because, as you say, they are diametrically opposed. to appease the one means ditching the other. neither side wants to lose 'their' favourite game or see it compromised to favour the other
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as a side note: as a casual player myself, even though SJA did some great work with the a.i, overall the new combat gameplay for casual players and traders is very uninvolving and a huge step down from the old ai, where we'd get up close and personal with the enemy as we were shooting them. under 2.1 it mostly consists of a line of white dots on the scanner (the player's mines) and a red dot near the bottom of it. you don't see the enemy ship, just the target info.
here's me fighting a Viper! (line of white dots)
and now fighting a FAS... (line of white dots)
wow, this Anaconda was real hard to beat! (line of white dots)
take that, pirate Fer de Lance! (line of white dots)
etc. etc...
