I can actually sympathise somewhat with the OP’s brother/friends here, as I have a somewhat similar problem. My friend does use a stick, and also constantly tells me I should be buying one which is just annoying. Games are pretty close in general and at current game skill levels, there’s not much in it between us.
Now, I’m not a tourney level player by a long shot, and I’ve always used a pad, but from what I’ve experienced recently, I understand that a stick is a superior control method, the problem is that as it stands, I’m useless with one. So even though I can fully appreciate that in the longer term a stick is the better choice, I just can’t use one at the minute, and playing a few games here and there isn’t going to help this much.
So if I had to go round to a friends and be virtually forced to use a control option that I just couldn’t use, which then subsequently was making me lose virtually every time, I’d soon lose interest in playing. Particularly when I can play pretty well on a pad.
In the event that a few of us pop round for some games, unless I take my pad with me, we have the same situation as the OP in that the rest of the players don’t use a stick, aren’t comfortable with the stick, and often make flippant remarks based on this, along the lines of “I can’t use that pile of garbage”.
We KNOW it’s not garbage, but at the present, it may as well be for the ability we have in using it.
It’s also amusing that we all tend to have different button layouts which means time messing around between fights to re-arrange these!
On a side note to this, many players just don’t have the spare cash to buy a decent stick, particularly when this would take preference over other options such as other new games. I suppose on this point, it all comes down to how important the game is to you and whether you can justify the outlay for the expected results?
There also seems to be a touch of elitism with regards to sticks in general, with the view seemingly being held by the majority that only scrubs use pads, and the mark of a top player is the fact they use a stick.
That’s just my view anyway as a PS3 pad user, I admit the stick is a better choice, I admit that if I had plenty of free time and a stick of my own I’d get a lot better with it, the point is that I don’t have this time and I don’t have the stick, so it’s just frustrating having to use one compared to the pad which I am used to.
I’d suggest you either let your friends/brother use pads even if it means a bit of messing around with the controllers, or accept that they are unlikely to come around to your way of thinking and look to find other players who have instead.
Not an easy choice I know, but if their comments annoy you that much it may be the only option.
Regards
Indy.