Personally, I feel like the "shove everything possible into the game" approach leads to bad game design. Options are good, but an over abundance of options leads to confusion on the part of the player, along with lack of focus in direction. Generally what happens when you try to appeal to everyone is that you spread everything too thin, and end up appealing to no one. It's far, far more appealing to people to play something that focuses on a few short and simple premises, and does those things WELL, polished up to perfection. Especially for a fan game, where there isn't a staff and budget to throw at it to make a grander vision successful.
It's like a buffet - sure, you have a huge variety, but none of the food is particularly good, because the restaurant doesn't specialize in any thing. If you want a quality steak, you're far better off going to a steak house.
