I think our opinion are not far away from each other. I completly agree with you that sim is not aircraft and people behave differently, mainly it's a mental problem (i.e. they panic if the conditions get complex).
I would say, the first time you fly with an MPL, you wont even notice (if nobody tells you). But I guess you fly heavy metal, so you wont ever see one.
To summarize it again I repeat that "our" MPLs get nearly as much real flying instruction as the normal ab-initio guys. It's not a matter of hours, but the way they get lessons.
Roger and out,
Dani