What Lucas did in the prequels was a betrayal of Star Wars and an insult to all of us. Those films don't fit into the same universe as the originals and as such they don't belong counted as part of the original saga.

The fact is the PT were a little letdown to me for the exact opposite of what you said: I pretty much already knew all about the main story (hell, even the final Anakin/Obi duel surrounded by lava was known for 20 years). No real surprise, appart some annoying and useless ones.

So I understand when people say that they don't like the PT and that they prefer ignoring them, but you can't say that they do not fit into the same univers. (well, yes, you can say that...but I disagree: ;) ) because it is the back story we already knew for ages, it's just the way of telling it that was (mostly) poorly done and missed good opportunities.

Maybe the whole saga is more interesting for younger generations that see them in chronological order for the first time, I don't know.

And in this case it's better to end the saga with the better movies! So all in all, it's not such a bad thing that the PT is not as good as the OT!