Plural changes in many languages

Was it really useful to change the behaviour of 2-arguement form? The old one was useful (and was often used) when one didn't use explicit number, e.g. ru: Выполняя это действие, вы '''отвергаете''' изменение исходного текста в {{PLURAL:$1|1=следующей версии|следующих версиях}} (from MediaWiki:Revreview-reject-text-list/ru). Well, the new syntax also can be useful in some case forms, like Есть изменения в $1 {{PLURA:$1|категории|категориях}} (prepositive case, 1st declesion). But is there a recommended replacement of the first variant?

Ignatus (talk)‎

Was it useful? Yes, it was useful because our code is now more standard-compliant, maintainable, robust and consistent with other languages. This will also make future developments quicker, more portable and more stable. For example, we shall be able to use other internationalized libraries more easily and let other projects use our code as well.

For the recommended replacement, the old syntax was {{PLURAL:$1|следующей версии|следующих версиях}} and the new syntax is {{PLURAL:$1|1=следующей версии|следующих версиях}}, as we already wrote in the beginning.

Amir E. Aharoni (talk)‎