Which system did you, or do you, prefer? And why?
Originally, I greatly preferred the 3Ed version, and then I got a RW illustration of why the 3.5Ed rules were better.
I have a skean dhu- a double-edged Scottish boot knife- that is identical in length to a museum replica scale model of a Toledo basket hilted longsword.
But despite the similar length- which would make them the same weapon in 3Ed- all of their other dimensions were radically different.
The skean dhu's blade is about 1" wide at the base. Its hilt takes up half of its length, and is nearly 3" around.
The replica longsword has a blade that is perhaps 1/4" at its widest, and the hilt that takes up less than 1/8th of its length could be grasped between my thumb and forefinger.
A pixie fighting with the replica would look like a fencer. A pixie using my skean dhu would look like he was trying to fight with a scale appropriate caber.