Are we playing the same game?

ETC in a nutshell.

It's been a while since I've played Warhammer Fantasy and I've recently kicked it up a notch.  I've had High Elves since 7th and have played loads of games since then.  When 8th came out, I played loads of games in the beginning, but ended up playing more of 40K because of the armies, time and enjoyment factor.

However, there's just one little thing that's been bothering me.  Alright, it's not very little and it actually raises a huge eyebrow for me and that's ETC.  First, the whole concept of ETC is to promote balanced play (in some people's opinion).  Taking a closer look at the rules and restrictions, I can't help but ask myself:  Isn't this just houserules?  I see the same kind of shit in my local league here.  The fact is:  I'm willing to bet that 95% of the world that plays Warhammer doesn't play with these rules.  The tournaments in my area consists of two conditions:  No special characters, or no restrictions at all.  Many places I've played in the past had the same conditions.  I asked about ETC to a couple of older veterans of the game in my LGS and no one cared for it at all (some didn't even know what it was).  I mean, for fuck sakes, the thing is called EUROPEAN Team Championship.  Why the fuck should I even care?

I can't help but wonder:  Are we playing the same Warhammer?  This is probably one of the biggest problems I have with sites like Ulthuan.net.  It's like Book of Hoeth doesn't even exist.  It's probably the reason why threads like this turn into this in a couple of weeks.  Nice Euro advice dude.  Run more Silver Helm buses.

PS - I realize I lit the fire, and that's perfectly fine with me.