The average reddit-going enthusiast is simply talking out of their ass whenever they try to dismiss a watch as "feeling cheap", usually because it's in a comparison with a more popular/expensive watch (they know they're supposed to support the more popular/expensive watch but arn't quite sure how to besides regurgitation) or because the watch is made of something other than steel (they for some reason believe heavier = higher quality). If they actually knew what made a watch "cheap", they would explain it in detail rather than relying on their "feeling" of it.
In a similar vein, the average reddit-going enthusiast has no idea what they mean when they say "quality" and simply defaults to believing the more popular/expensive watch of two is the "higher quality". They might list some "specs" like power reserve or accuracy or "in house" and believe those factors alone make one watch objectively superior to another.
tl;dr: the average enthusiast sees nothing but popularity and price, then believes themselves to be an expert.