it seems most chessplayers start out with 1.e4 e5 but most people start other openings at their opposition gets better.

i can give one reason of mine. i left 1.e4 e5 because of this line

despite nc3 is worse than a plan with c3 and d3/e4 is not exactly exiting for black and in addition this Nc3 seems to be recommended to beginners by many players making it even more popular for white. so i left 1.e4 but came back after a few months because 1) it was just about the only line i dont like with 1.e4 e5 and 2) no matter what openingmoves i play there is some way to kill the fun anyway so i just stay with 1.e4 e5

interestning post!

to avoid ruylopez which has a ton load of theory,I don't want to play people who have memorized moves. 

its a valid argument. i have solved the problem by playing the berlin wall. i bought the 60 minuts berlinwallvideo by Leonid Kritz(recommended by Pfren on this board). the mainline is covered ok in only 18 minuts while the rest is about white other tries like 4.d3, 5.e1 and stuff like that. but the berlinwall its not to everyones taste. its ambitious enough for me since i dont face the lopez often when i play e5 because white is afraid of theory

e5 is too symmetrical for my taste. I like to play 1... e6 2... c5, it leads to some nice tense positions, and at my level it throws a lot of people out of book which gets me out of having to study opening theory.

as a way to transpose to the sicilian? i agree e5 can get symmetrical. i solved some of it by playing the two knights defence. in the french i had the popular exchangevariation and in the sicilian it was just ridicolous much to prepare for. i guess its a matter of taste:)

I still play e5

Like I say I tend to avoid opening theory, so I don't look at it as a transposition, certainly not to the Sicilian! Rather, it emphasizes the aspects of the French by staking a strong claim on the q-side, and often leads to dynamic positions that offer lots to think about.

I don't play 1 e4 because I don't like making a mistake in the opening.

I play 1. e4 as white but I prefer 1. ...e6 as black.

I've been playing around with the King's Indian Attack a lot lately. It seems like a lot of players with higher ratings than me have a tough time against it. You definitely have to be up on your tactics, though. I think it's mainly because most people aren't used to white letting black have the center right away. So black can get a little overextended early on if they're not careful.

Two Knights defense doesn't avoid it if White plays 4.d3

How can anyone leave Italian?!

but black has some interestning lines after 4...Be7:)

I can't remember ever playing ...e5 seriously.

I left 1.e4 and 1...e5 because of too much theory plain and simple.

Since I like and play (as white) the English a lot I think it was  natural to leave 1.e4 e5 for the Sicilian when black.

I can't remember ever playing e5 either. Without knowing much/any theory at the time I guess I just instinctively began to realize that I was on the backfoot the second I played it and began to play something less commital.