o I rolled a druid and decided to be the big, strong bear that saves four other characters from untimely deaths in dungeons. Oddly, the first thing I noticed was that other players seemed to expect much more of a tank at level 17 than at level 72. Perhaps this is merely a consequence of how less stringent requirements for dungeons at lower levels mean a larger pool of potential tanks, and so one can be replaced with greater ease. An exercise in irony, overall. I am still trying to figure out what exactly a feral druid does to tank.
For tanking at higher levels, the requirements are stricter, leading to fewer available tanks. Perhaps it is because of this that my protection warrior was treated better than the druid, along with the bind-to-account items on the warrior that proved my ownership of a character at maximum level.
Now, it seems that I'll encounter the most ridiculous expectations at level 80. When I last tanked at endgame, it was largely expected that my character have a critical-hit-immune defense rating and appropriate, enchanted equipment. Period. Current baseline standards tend more towards twenty percent more health than before — and that doesn't come without gear. Given the limited supply of competent tanks at that level, I find the extreme requirements as contributing to the scarcity problem.
Those holding tanks to such requirements are not, in my experience, players often referred to as "elitists," who are generally the most experienced with difficult content, and best geared. Given that these players have often engaged in activities where they cannot, in fact, have gear than is any higher than what drops from the content they are involved in, performance becomes more of a criteria than the power of gear. After all, if they completed Naxxramas in rare and level 70 gear, then high-level gear is not necessarily needed.
I read the last point as that with available gear and, especially, the resulting average item level of most active characters, many players expect characters — particularly tanks — to out-gear instances, when in fact those instances were once routinely completed with mostly i200 equipment or less.
I'm struggling to find what you're actually trying to say here. Is it a complaint about lack of gear? 210 badges gets you five pieces of T9, and that's doable in a few days of not-so-heavy work thanks to the new dungeon system. 350 badges pretty much leapfrogs you into ToC-ready territory.
Or are you trying to argue for "bring the player, not the gear/class/etc."? That only holds to a certain point. Skill doesn't get you anywhere if you're trying to run Ulduar in sub-200 gear.
Seems like this article was written in a fit of pique.