Actually, unless I'm much mistaken, it's about pride. People could give a **** less about competition. If you don't have it, good. If you do, that's fine, if you're good enough you can still get the pull.
But, if you've noticed, the people speaking out against the new upcropping of so-called HNMLS are the old skoolers. Lunarians, IRON, AD, the likes. The ones that've been around for ages and a day, have done it all, and know how it all goes. They did with skill what these new "HNMLS" are doing with numbers.
Me? I agree with them whole-heartedly. I believe HNMLS are a thing everybody should be able to enjoy. If and only if they are skilled enough to do so. Who wants to see a bunch of snot-nosed fourteen-year-olds running around in sky claiming they're the sh[/i]it because they beat Kirin with 50-some-odd-people?
If I'm seeing things correctly, the old-skoolers see it as degradation. having been "there" and done "that", with much more skill and finesse (mind you, it did take them a while to get it all fluid), they take offence at the fact that everybody and their brother is starting up so-called HNMLS and claiming they do it all, when they spend sixteen hours a day in sky camping Genbu, or finding out the Simurgh ToD and camping it.
To me, there are three HNM. That's right, three. Fafhogg, Adamantoise/Aspidochelone, and (King) Behemoth. And, odds are, a lot of the other HNMers see it that way. They don't waste their time with piddy little things like Simurgh, Roc, Serket, et al, unless somebody from within the LS takes it upon themselves to set up a private camp. As an LS, they only do the land Gods. The "true" HNMs.
I think it's perfectly within their grounds to be mildly upset at the sudden upcropping of sky LS claiming to be hardcore HNMLS. I don't agree with their snubbing them constantly, but I think they're well-within their grounds to be upset at the degradation of what they see to be HNMLS as a whole.
EDIT: That's not saying Fafhogg etc are the only things that go on in HNMLS. There's considerably more that goes on in them. In Aurora's heydey, we did it all - missions, land HNMs, sky gods, set parties, helping people get equipment, etc etc...
[i]Edited, Fri Oct 21 23:06:02 2005 by Alauce