@Leaf:
Don't leave us Terek! ;_; I understand your frustration with Usopp, but don't let that ruin One Piece for you! Look at the good points with the rest of the story and characters! Then again, I'm sure you have your own reasons. :)
I'm not leaving until I put in two years worth of delayed work into the Arlong Park Wiki I haven't done because I have to put in four years worth of delayed work into my GMD Resource Engine. I'm just started fiddling with it again and hopefully I'll be done by sometime next year (doubtful).
@Leaf:
I love your posts and it just saddens me to see a good story ruined for someone because of one character.
It's not just because of Usopp, it's just that I've become a lot more accustomed to Oda's writing style and there's less to discover about the series. The less adventure-based OP becomes, the less interesting it is; as a fighting manga it's really quite poor, but as an adventure story it's outrageously good.
This is why people bag on DBZ but praise DB; DB was the "adventure" story side of the franchise, DBZ the "fighting" manga side.
Naruto and Bleach are fighting manga and that's what people love the most about them, not the in-betweens.
For me, and I believe a lot of people (especially the older folk), the best parts of OP are the little quirks of the characters, character chemistry, and everything that isn't related to fights.
Aside from that, though, it's pretty predictable; sure, Oda's left hooks like with Garp are always welcome, but like Jonas I can't help but feel Oda's adherence to shounen standards don't really keep his manga "fresh" but just wear down people. Enies Lobby was the most formulaic arc in the entire series, and a lot of the "power ups" advertised as being refreshing were half-arsed and not all that impressive. I expected Nami to do more than her simply hat tricks with the Clima-Tact, Kabuto to do some crazy arse stuff, Zoro to invent a new technique, Sanji to walk around (not break through) his limitations, Franky to pimp around, Luffy to screw up against Lucci.
As such, only the last two partials came true, and the former was downplayed while the latter exaggerated for dramatic effect. The result was rather tepid; I disliked Usopp's little pep-talk to Luffy and I think Luffy's defeat of Lucci was a little forced, though not achieved through use of "HAX". Franky always struck me as a powerful fighter, but to put him several leagues below Sanji is a bit insulting; Sanji was once my favourite character, if only because I considered him a sort of "I could be strong if I want to" guy who could kick arse comparable to Zoro even though he's a cook.
The actual rivalry between both guys is just arsinine, and only further polarizes how strong the people on the ship are. Either they're really weak, or outrageously strong.