I think a transformation is most clever when you have to move X piece here *while* moving Y there. It's more common and comparatively simple to just move X piece here, before you can move Y piece there.
I'd almost see "X requires simultaenous Y" as a design failure, myself. Then again, I don't like most automorphs (or at least the ones where doing it manually will break it).
I'd been thinking about it a bit more since the advent of the Alternators. For where the car panels end up in robot mode, there's just far, far too many moving parts on some of the designs.
Transformation should be FUN. Transforming a BT or AT just feels like a chore... (with constant fear of scratches or damages.) I see them more as collectors pieces rather than "real toys".
Definitely. I gave my boy who's 4 my Macca's Tf's (Armada, Energon, Animated) for a bit of fun and soon he had his sisters timing how long it took for him to transform them. At last check he was down to 2 and a half seconds on Armada Prime.
He's a beast.