I'm not getting into this debate because I own quite a few vent rib guns including doubles and like them just fine. I don't carry them in duck boats or the grouse woods because they will dent but otherwise they are just great. However, the Grand American Handicap was once won with a Model 12 with plain barrel,corncob forend and canoe paddle stock. I think it has also been won with a Model 37 Winchester unribbed single barrel. I own a plain barrel Model 12 that was used by a guy named R.A. Smith to set a World Record in All Bore competition that stood for about four years, a long time for a World Record to stand in American Skeet. In fact, it is about as long as most any record has ever stood in American Skeet. Obviously, a vent rib is not required to kill birds or win money, but most competitors prefer them.
