@TheVenocWarlord:
I prefer GTO as it automatically prevents you from breaking the rules intentionally/unintentionally, there is little to download (just the game you are actually playing), and the map is the actual map itself and the units look nice (just exactly like the example images in the rulebook).
With the exception of the first point (TripleA interprets the rules for us so there’s no cheating), your objections are familiar to me, because I had the same ones when I started playing TripleA. I was accustomed to GTO but I wanted to try aa50. I got used to TripleA pretty quickly, and aesthetic preferences became inconsequential compared to the benefits of TripleA features. Nowadays, I don’t think the GTO map looks any better than the TripleA map, as I’ve gotten used to the TripleA palette.
It’s true that if a map is still beta, TripleA users have to redownload maps (and sometimes the entire program) every 2 months or so to get the latest updates and bug fixes. But this process takes less time than GTO server updates and/or the process of buying coins and activiating games via GTO. In GTO’s favor, it is really easy to find an opponent and get a game (live or PBE) started. But on the other hand there’s only Revised and spring42.
Online Axis and Allied players tend to have a preference for whatever software version they start with, maybe because they associate it with good times. Perhaps it is because I associate TripleA with good times that I can’t honestly say I think GTO or Battlemap look better than TripleA lol.
Actually perhaps there will be multiple map skins for TripleA maps in the near future. One of them will probably be a lighter palette similar to GTO or the AA50 Battlemap skin.