Took this off the thread because everyone there is tired of talking with me about MF lol
Alex, the biggest crux of marine forde's failing was that Ace, who should have been a more critical character of the series, was killed off before getting a chance to really do anything. Moreover, his character wasn't used or developed enough for us to really care about him as much as we should have when he died. :/
When Ace turned to face Akainu, it was more like "wow, this guy's a dumb ass." than any sense of vindication. When Ace got killed it was more like, "wow, sux." than any real emotional response. When Luffy went crazy to save Ace I was more confused than anything (since Luffy had always purposefully ignored Ace, and their bond wasn't developed or explained at all). When Ace screams out "This era's name is WB!!!!!" I know this moment should have been one where I felt huge emapthy with Ace but really I didn't-- because I didn't know WB or Ace well enough to really feel emotionally attached to either. These characters had barely had an introduction; how could I fell like they were the center of this universe?
When Luffy goes to save Robin or Nami, we felt tremendous emotional attachment because those character's back stories had been explained. When Merry Go died, I don't think anyone could read the scene without crying because of our attachment to the ship through the adventures of the story. When Luffy goes to save Ace? "Uhh, okay... Luffy, you're a dumb ass." When Ace dies? "Um... sux? Ace, you're a dumb ass."