Of course, everybody on the Web is going to bad-mouth a product that is not their favorite. I do think for the most part, I'm better off finding vintage guns. A person doesn't have to be an AR pundit to own an AR and fire one safely and effectively.
I do know the AR market now is much more complicated than it used to be. There's more brands out there now than I count all both hands and feet. Before Bushmaster came on the scene (late 1990's????) you just had to know COLT, one brand, and that was it.