Well, not to bash Randy's upcoming offering, but I personally do NOT like the STC 500's. And believe me, I've tried to like them, but I find them too distracting because of their very truncated feel.
I guess something like that is always going to be a "personal preference" kind of thing. In my opinion, a long throw is only good on an analog stick. My old original Wico leaf switch stick felt a lot closer to these than the sloppy Happ sticks.
There is a bit of misconception regarding joystick throw and when the actuator actually closes the switch. It is true that the Happ's have a long throw, but there is still travel left in the stick after the m'switch closes. The 500 travel stops almost immediately after the switch is closed.
Let's just say that this isn't my experience. With the unit I have sitting on my lap, the microswitch "clicks" at about 1/3 of the travel of the stick. This leaves the rest of the 2/3 of the travel for slop, which is plenty.
A Wico Eurostick (Happ Comp with different switched & shaped handle) actuates the m'switches with the same amount of travel as the 500's, but it has a longer throw. This gives you a bit of give and you don't "stop short" after every move against a hard stop like using the 500's.
Can't comment on the Eurosticks. Don't have one. But I do have an Xarcade, Super, Competition and Ultimate. For "ham-fisted" fighting games, these might be the choice. But for precision, I'll take the 500's. I don't "stop short" when playing, but if you are used to using the Happs sticks and making gross movements with the stick, I'm not surprised that this would happen.
Obviously if you are watching the gameplay, you can tell when your character moves in the direction you intend, you don't need the joystick to stop to tell you that... This is why I actually like the Happ & Wico leaf sticks, there is travel left in the stick after you move in the direction you want and you don't feel like you are fighting the stick all the time.
If this was actually the case, there wouldn't be a market for your restrictors

. Some panels even have "detents" at every one of the 8 positions, just so you could feel where you were moving the stick to. If you rely totally on sight, the result is usually moving somewhere you didn't intend to in order to notice that you were in a diagonal, instead of moving left. Most of the time, by the time you notice it, it's too late. With these you can feel what you are doing.
A Happ Super or Comp just seems to be the best "do-all" joysticks if you had to pick just one to give decent gameplay in MAME games. It's no wonder that companies like HanaHo, X-Arcade, SlikStik, etc use them.
It looks like we will be disagreeing on this one

. The 500 is 4/8 way switchable. So unless you are stating that all those classic 4-way games play as well on the sticks you mentioned (without your 4-way restrictors

) as the 500 in 4-way mode, you might want reconsider that statement. I can tell you for fact that they do not. These have improved my game by about 50% even on the 8-way titles.
And there are lots of reasons why a company would choose one type over another. Hanaho was first on the scene and catered to fighters. Bat handles are a logical choice, because that's what the fighters in the arcade use. No brainer. Xarcade and SlikStik? Well, I can't really speak for any of them, but the Hanaho was successful so why not follow their lead? Heck, the Xarcade even had Chinese knockoffs made of the Happ sticks used in the HotRod. While copying may be the sincerest form of flattery, copying a successful product also reduces risk. But it doesn't mean that it's the best out there.
And here's a final thought. I've been into this type of stuff since 10 cent pinball. After installing the 500's in my panel, I offered to give away the Happ sticks they replaced. I then ordered about $1000 in inventory because they impressed me so much....and I am not easily impressed. It's time these things start getting the attention they deserve and stop the beating down they get by the "happ crowd".
RandyT