*sigh*
Okay, I'll bite.
The more customers, the better. One also probaly needs "hardcore" customers, true fans, that use a product to its limits, motivate others to get it too and so on and so forth. In an MMO, that would be those who spend an unhealthy amount within the game and game related activity, such as setting up guilds, leading raids, writing guides, creating videos and so on - and yes, also engange new and above average difficulty parts of the game. These people are your (unpaid) test crew.
They are not, however, the people who pay the bills.
Apple doesn't get rich from the twelve members of the North Vermont Apple Fan Club*, dedicated though they are, but from the millions of "casual" customers. The fan club kids may frown upon the casual, lowly noob that only uses the phone for, uhm, phoning and the occasional news website. They may cry out if their favorite function gets dumbed down so that it gets more accessible to more customers. And their cries should be heard. They are an important customer group. Without them, the famous North Vermont Apple Fan Website would never have been created, which helped thousands of other customers to use and appreciate the product. But they are not everything.
When Apple starts loosing customers, they shouldn't focus on the Vermont Apple Fan Club, but on the scores of others users. The fan club kiddies will remain even when the product has become completely unnattractive to most, and only then leave for the next great hype. But the other customers are those that bring in the money, that may need to be influenced, bribed, begged to stay.
This is what Funcom is doing with the Raidfinder, and even in a somewhat clever manner by encouraging hardcore raiders to help out the more casual players.
Again: I, personally, am skeptical about the Raidfinder. I see a risk of endangering established raids, which is a bad thing, at least form my perspective. To emphasize: I would most likely be considered a hardcore** player by all or at least an overwhelming majority of observers. I probably hover somewhere not on top, but in the upper echelon of l33t sk1llz. I've plaid the game since early access, have at least viable competence (and equipment) with all classes, been a raid and guild leader for many years, did some crazy PvE **** that - at least to my knowledge - nobody else has succeeded in so far (admittedly, maybe from lack of trying - it's somewhat niche). And yes, I've spent an unholy and most probably unhealthy amount of time with this game.
But still, especially considering that, one must not see oneself and one's own concerns as the measure for all things. And that, my friends, is, in my humble opinion, what a lot of us do.
If one has said or thought one of the following things before, one should question oneself's perspective and motives:
- "Only the best players deserve the best loot." <- Do you consider yourself one of those best players? What does that say about you?
- "Dumbing down the game only appeals to players who don't apply themselves / are stupid / of this or that nationality." <- Do you want to pay the bills alone that these stupid, ugly, cheating, even - the horror - foreign people help to carry currently?
- "I've succeeded in XYZ, so everybody who has the will can. Others don't deserve help." <- Have you managed to get a medical degree? Would you want your doctor to look down on you because you didn't? Is getting a medical degree the only viable choice for a life path? Is it equally available to all?
If one doesn't accept or appreciate arrogance in "real life" or a professional context, one shouldn't behave like an overexcited hooligan in a gaming context. One's favorite football club may, in the view of God the allmighty, be the best and greatest club of all and ever, but for baby Jesus' sake, don't look down on other football clubs. Your team wouldn't have anybody to play with without them.
Seriously, a lot of stuff that is written here comes off as pretty arrogant, short sighted and, frankly, egoistical. And yes, me saying that may be seen as arrogant by others. "Getroffene Hunde bellen", as one says in German. Flame on, if you feel like it, can be good for mental health occasionally. :-) But maybe, after that, take a deep breath and think about the above for a day. There may be an unpleasant truth to be realized for some of us.
*Fictional example.
**Maybe "formerly hardcore" by now.