Gregory's Server@zensaiyuki I think this idea of different fonts [in the old sense, where font implies a size as well as a typeface] not just being scaled versions of each other is something that OpenType tries to address with its parametric features. There doesn’t seem to have been much uptake of the feature though.
@futzle past a certain threshold of nuance, people tend not to care. they might have the odd feeling that one peice of design seems nicer or “more expensive” than another peice but they won’t be able to put a finger on why.
this level of care in web typography basically represents the tip of the diminishing returns curve: lots of effort for an implacable feeling