The problem is, everybody's 'it's only a game' slider is different.
A lot of the same people who are on about it only being a game get down on HOing, because you're putting yourself in front of the other guy's guns, it requires no skill, just pointing your plane at the guy and rolling the dice on a 50/50 whether you're a better shot than he is. It ends either or both of your sorties quickly, with not much happening. It's only a game though, right? It's worth the chance because you can just reup another plane if it doesn't work out, right?
Yet many of these same people who are down on HOing are more than happy to fling themselves into the bottom of a red cloud. The eventual outcome is certain, the only question is how many you might happen to take with you. I say, what's the difference between the two? By putting yourself in a position where you're assured to die, it's little different than taking the 50/50 HO, yet one is reviled, the other is advocated as the One True Way to play the game by the chest thumpers.
Throwing yourself into a red cloud when you can only track 1 or 2 planes at a time isn't fun for some, it's not a learning experience, it's an exercise in getting slapped down. Once you've got the SA to track multiples, then you can start engaging multiples effectively.
Wiley.