I've read that as a reason for every mod that's popular at the time. Trying to say one mod requires more skill than every other is nonsense.
There's a knack to every mod, no matter how silly/basic it is, there's always a way to involve skill.

I'm lumping "because it requires skill" & all derivatives of in the piss-poor-reason collection along with "my brother did it", "I didn't know there were rules" and "that mod is based on luck". At least attempt to argue the point in a cohesive fashion please.

Because everything isnt determined on how well you can use your brand spankin old youtuge move?
Or maybe because you can tell the difference between skill levels just by watching instead of just a mashed up pile of limbs?
Maybe because it can last you longer than 2 turns?
Maybe because any trouble you get yourself into is usually caused by self error and not by some random leg dm?
I dunno just throwin shit at the wall here.

Response in Bold and Red!!

Another thing I just realized (and I don't know why I didn't catch on to this earlier) is that it takes a lot longer to master fighting no-grab mods as opposed to grabbing mods.

You have to learn how to maneuver your Tori which takes a bit more time and patience. And since attempting/failing to maneuver/comeback during fights isn't really action packed, I can see why people are more attracted to the constant contact of grabbing mods.

I dont know of any aikido player that can really play without grabs unless they spar or something.
Because of the fact that anytime someone lets go is whenever their opponent has enough momentum to throw themselves out of the ring or theyre holding them directly above the end of the dojo they never really need to learn hpw to come back. (not sure that any sense)
But actually now that ive had time to think about it, people probably like it because its extremely easy to pick up.

I think that most people love aikido because its a mod with litlle fps so you can get a better grip, in the case of judo i belive its because its fun watching what will randomly break and stuff like that.

And i guess there are many people that dont like wushu and the other mod because of the fps and the control you have to have over your tori.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frame_rate

^that is fps.

Do you mean turnframes or something?

yeah I love it, for the gravity, because you can counter easily lifts and shovels, and because this mod favors the skills and not the luck.

Well I prefer aikido than abd, because aikido shows your real skill. Because you should have a good strategy to counter enemies' moves. Abd needs more time too

Anyone who thinks Aikido is all skill and Wushu is some luck mode can go ahead and duel me in Wushu. Show me your shiny youtube opener and where it gets you once I've travelled 200 ed backwards.

At any rate: I don't like Aikido because it feels to linear to me. Not a bad thing persay, just not for me. Feels like King DeeDeeDee mains in SSBB-> there's a flowchart to the right move always. I don't like the restriction.

I will say though, people who find it bad mannered to dq outside the dojo and in fact play the mod like [RAWR], Team Sambo, bncy players etc is always fun.

One reason, I think, is that it is generally the level of play that determines the level of fun, not the mod - even mods that are often called 'noob' (e.g. twinswords) could be fun when played at a more advanced level, and even Lenshu becomes somewhat boring at coloured belts (the public Lenshu tournament even had to remove grabbing). Mods like Lenshu and Aikido are therefore more likely to be fun due to their popularity with more experienced players, which, in turn, increases their popularity with experienced players even more. The cycle spirals upward and a large player base emerges.

Personally, though, I like Aikido because:

1. Timer
The timer intervals are very well designed. Each interval is short enough for creativity, variation, elimination of guesswork, and reaction, but long enough to simulate the limit of real-life human reaction time, keep the match exciting / dangerous, and allow for setting up powerful strikes.
The timer interval increase throughout the match is also well-designed.

2. Variation
Aikido and Lenshu, I think, provide for the largest range of viable play styles.
Big Dojo helps by further expanding this range to include more aerial styles. I have played / seen some pretty Lenshu-esque matches in Big Dojo.
Despite common complains about lifting / grabbing /etc., they, too, are valid styles of play.

The opener for Aikido is mostly irrelevant - spacing the first turn is totally viable. This is a result of timer settings and contributes to variation.