I’ll throw in my .02 on the topic…

Basically, the level of fan-editing I prefer is inversely proportional to my love of the original.

Two examples:

Star Wars ESB (The original theatrical cut): Damn near the perfect movie as is, so in terms of fan-editing, I greatly prefer an effort that un-does the changes in the Special Editions, and brings the coloring / lighting / VFX up to date. So basically, technical corrections versus story corrections.
Kenobi. Horribly put together series with all sorts of issues. What I’m looking for in a fan-edit of a project like this is something that salvages it, for lack of a better term. That entails stuff like editing down to a movie, major story restructuring, etc. BIG changes. If a fan-edit turns out something I really love against an original that I hate, the fan-edit becomes my new go-to and I will rarely (if ever) watch the original again.

Lastly, there is a third sub-category of fan-editing that I like, but more in a ‘okay, that was cool’ sort of way without taking it too seriously. This would include projects like “The Battle of Dol Guldur”, “The Battle of Scarif”, etc. These creatively use assets from a larger movie or series to create a self-contained mini-story. It can be a really good use of extraneous material cut out of a fan edit of an original piece that is too long and convoluted. Yes, Hobbit trilogy, I’m looking at YOU. 😉

At the end of the day, fan-editing is like writing fan fiction. Everyone can tell the story they want, and others are free to enjoy it or not, as they choose. But I never think of a fan-editor as ‘ruining’ the original project. It’s a hobby, done for love and respect of the source material. If my vision differs greatly from the work someone else has done, that’s okay. I can go find something I do want to watch, and no hard feelings.