You are very right, I agree with you.
One only needs to look at Norberto's scorelines, or scorelines in general in TS3. Norby won in tie breaks or one break sets, a LOT. There was ton of players who were great part-timers, journey man. There were also players that could get hot for a match or two, the Risk actually allowed that to happen. In TS4, this all is not possible, a better player by 2% will win the match with a score of 6-2 and 5% will dominate the game at 6-0. There is no way for a lesser player to change a mind set, alla Rosol VS Nadal, and basically go all out, thus either cutting down the match time with errors, or have a great day out of the blue and blowing away the Better player.
The opponents and haters of Risk can have their opinion, I don't mind, I also agree that the system was not the best POSSIBLE, but it was the best AVAILABLE on consoles.
Another point is defense. No one talks about players like Mack, he wasn't your flashy risker, but he got to top 10 purely on defense. Now, for the TS4 players that doesn't seem impressive, and that tells a big story. It is soo easy in TS4 to play defense, to get your racket on tons of balls...etc...in TS3, this was THE hardest style. Defenders who rarely risked got punished, a lot. They had to at least use the LT risk, to get some depth, or be a perfection of timing (Anteros).
All arounders like Picachu, myself, Baghdad and many others - also had their impact. You had to train and maintain and polish your skill daily to survive and win. This was no easy fit.
The people who never mastered risk, or I should not say mastered, rather embrace risk, never played TS3 as far as I am concerned. They always played TS4 even if it was called TS3 and when blown away by the players who are significantly better - cited risk as cheap. It was mind-boggling! They played half a game. That is like playing COD or Battlefield and only using a Pistol, complaining of all the rifle users.
Don't get me started on the movement and momentum. In TS3 you felt the "weight" of your player and swing. If the ball is short, guess what, you had to take the step or two forward - YOURSELF! ....the AI didn't SNAP you into position. Same for side movements or even moving backwards when the ball goes to your feet. You have no way to do that in TS4, your player either locks in on the spot, or is moved by AI. Just try, let go of your aiming-moving when you a good 4-5 steps away from the ball and keep the shot button pressed - your player in TS4 will complete the steps for you and will make a perfect contact with the ball if you simply let go of the shot button on time. In TS3, your player will stand on one place and swing the air. Only when you are one step away or closer, the locking begins - allowing for a much better movement, much free-er and user dependent.
Whoever thinks TS4 movement is better, was or is simply bad at doing two things at once:
positioning your player and
releasing on time. Simple. That is why you "like" the movement in TS4, because you don't actually MOVE!
I can go on for hours.....starting to sound like a broken record by now.
Level 13 Edberg and counting...