It definitely was not back in 2004-2006.
It wasn’t even so toxic in pserver land in 2015-2019.
It got worse in 20219-2021 Classic, but it seems every year it gets even worse.
I think there’s three main things:
- Internet, and streamer culture, has intensified and reinforced toxic edgelord behaviors. This has gotten worse over the years, and really wasn’t a thing “back then”.
- The game is so min/maxed and hyper optimized. Every year it becomes more so. Every year the player base is forced into this playstyle or else they’re met with toxic behavior. I remember the first time someone yelled at me in deadmines because I didn’t know some skip exploit lol. We also just didn’t understand the game like we do now “back then”. But now, the hyper optimized playstyle is dominant and if you aren’t playing this, people get mad. This encouraged others to join in on it and further marginalizes “casuals” and people who just want to play to have fun.
- Mega servers breed anonymity. Smaller realms force community. Your name means something. If you’re toxic people shun you. Now you’re just a drop in the bucket. Especially with layers. I’ll never see you again, and the social contract is now out the window. Burn bridges with your guild? All good. 1000’s more on the realm and it’s too big to truly get blacklisted compared to a 3k pop server where you sort of knew all the player names.
More to it than that I’m sure, but that’s my 2 copper. Seek out communities who reject this BS.