@KebabRemover So you are saying if everyone doing scanlation just start to release their own version for a couple of popular manga, then that's a better state of the current situation? Let's wait until this whole community reduces down to people who only do manga they like. Admit it, there are A LOT of manga multiple groups want to do, but they refrain from doing so because there are already other groups working on them perfectly fine. I was in one, and it's not uncommon at all. If everyone thinks like you, we would have 5 versions of Solo Leveling a day, while other manga cease to be translated. That's what gonna happen if people stop caring about other groups. Did you think of that?
People can do whatever they like with their manga, but I do appreciate groups not contesting for one popular manga, and instead use that effort in other series. A world where every person scanlate one popular isekai manga, or one romance manga, etc. is not good for the fan translation scene in general. The diversity we have nowadays, let's face it, is because groups most of the time do respect each other even though they could've snipe literally anything. It's simple courtesy.
I do admit that you are right, wasting time is indeed a personal issue. However, it is a more common issue than you think. I have not seen a manga series here that actually have two or more groups scanlating at the same time for long. Usually, they ended up merging (`Nekyou and Goat&CatScans doing Retired Heroes) or one ended up stopping pretty soon (Fanged Scans version of Nagatoro). It's clear that when they see someone working on it the other stop or reach a collab conclusion because both versions existing without much differences is a waste. Try doing scanlation yourself to see how time consuming this shit is.
@Antairan is also right, competitions do bring better scanlation. But that should only happen when the main scanlation is shit. For example, https://mangadex.org/title/31551/a-returner-s-magic-should-be-special chapter 39. You can definitely make a case that it's free for all and competition brings better quality, but look at that chapter vs. the one Meraki released, which is better? Does that chapter really bring any expectation for Meraki to raise their standards?
Before you jump the horse, let me say that is from a quality standpoint, which is no good. And that is why half of those people complained; if you're gonna be up for the challenge of taking over a manga, then at least be competent. Bad scanlation is something people can criticize. Without it, most people don't improve.
BUT what he did good at is making the chapter available on MD before Meraki could. I only care about quality so waiting is fine for me, but some people are also fine with shit quality for fast releases. The other half who complained about Meraki owning exclusive rights are wrong. Bottomline: I do hate how this guy scanlated chapter 39, but I'm fine with it existing.