You’re wrong. There is nothing in this discussion that is incomprehensible to people of different backgrounds. If two people make the exact same argument, one isn’t more right than the other because he pugs more, and one isn’t less right than the other because he pugs less. The argument, as in almost all cases, stands and falls on its own merit, irrespective of the person making it. This is a fact. You are free to disagree, but it is one of the principles of logical discourse.
Anytime a player has an issue with the game, it is “the biggest issue the game has”. Spoiler alert: it usually isn’t.
It’s almost like this exact same scenario played out ten years ago, during Wrath, with Gear Score. People complained that players were using gear score to gate keep content and that it was a crisis that would end the game. Instead, it became so normalized that Blizzard added ilvl into the base ui and the armory.
I use this example to demonstrate that, while the social atmosphere of the game may have gotten worse and worse, it is unrelated to raider io, because the game faced a nearly identical social issue during a time that is almost universally regarded as a social high point.
Don’t blame the website. You’ve already identified this as a social issue. People are choosing to use the website. It’s not manifesting some change in the gameplay on its own. It’s not a problem with the game or with IO. And in a moment, I’ll actually demonstrate that it isn’t a problem with the community either.
From the beginning of the game to the current iteration, players have needed to find other players in order to complete group content. Whether they were inspecting people on a mailbox, using the Gearscore addon, using ilvl, achievements, or the raider io rating, players have always tried to find some easy metric to gauge whether or not a player they don’t know might have the knowledge and experience that makes them similar enough to be an asset to the group.
That’s the issue here. People want to play with other players who are like themselves. People that are highly skilled and highly competitive don’t want to play with people who aren’t as skilled and who don’t care about where they rank. People that aren’t competitive don’t want someone who is going to be pushy and rude ruining the low key atmosphere they prefer when they’re playing.
Guilds and other social networks are the easiest way to avoid the dissonance of groups of people with different goals and different ideas of fun being forced to share the same game space.
Raider IO is a tool that is available for players to try to measure whether a player’s experience make them a good fit for a M+ group. It is the latest method players use to help them ensure they can get a group of players who play the game in a similar way.
It is, however, only a tool, and if players don’t use that tool correctly, then the final results won’t be as good. If you’re inviting 3k players to your +12 that you want to finish no matter what, you’re probably doing it wrong. If you’re inviting no rating players to your +15 expecting to time it, you’re probably doing it wrong.
The problem with the community isn’t the one you think it is. It’s the people who seem to believe that other players are obligated to play with them that are the only actual issue. If everyone approaches a group with the understanding that everyone is there voluntarily for only as long as they want to stay, then the people having problems may focus more on building a group of like minded people, and maintaining an atmosphere that encourages people to stay in the group, rather than try to force people to stay with punishments or other consequences. Stop treating other players like your servants and the game changes.
You’ve stated it’s a problem with the community, and by saying that, you’re basically confirming my point that it’s a problem for the community to solve, not for Blizzard to legislate.