@KyleGoetz:
It seems the discussion has moved on from it, but I see Japanese people use 出来る on a regular basis. I'm sure there's a stylistic rule, but when it comes to young people it might just be to break up the look of the sentence, or a "when I feel like it" thing. Just thought I'd throw my ¥2 in there
Btw, are they STILL talking about that Gundam??