Dear non-American friend (I am, but neither am I
),
It seems clear to me that in the case of this game, the closest thing to the concept of "equal conditions" that can be offered to the gaming community is precisely to make everyone play subject to the same rules.
Then, everything will depend on the goals, moment, style, dedication and quality of management of each one of us.
As I said, that argument didn't sound very smart to me... you were almost convincing me with the first two.
Anyway, I'm not opposed to the idea, although I think it's an unnecessary implementation.
If the devs think it's worth the work, it can be a little useful especially for those who are very concerned about player stats, leaderboards, etc.
Greetings