You have to be a min/maxer to be viable now more than before?

Its easier than ever to be viable as a casual now. I really don't see where you're getting this logic from...

I used to feel the same way you did, but honestly the classes have become easier to balance over the years and look to do so even more in MoP. Plus it really keeps the game interesting and in most of the classes I play, I have found a few to be much more fun to play than 4 years ago.

Plus.. the whole casual vs hardcore stuff mainly comes from a niche group of players who just like to complain a lot. It's a regurgitated 'sound byte'. The fact is, some people call themselves hardcore simply because they have an enormous amount of time to play WoW. But most of the raiders in our guild play less than most, but we focus on raids and have a few realm firsts. Now are we casual or hardcore? We really are pretty casual, but we use our heads and study our classes and strats because we like to do so.

See what I did there?

Oh Ham, you made the foolish mistake of being critical of Blizzard. That simply doesn't fly on this site and it never, ever has. Even the most well reasoned criticism of the great and powerful Blizz will result in a quick rate-down by the sycophants that constitute the readership here.

That being said, I agree with you. Blizzard's approach to changes has been baffling at times as of late. They take mechanics that have often been part of the game since its inception, remove them then replace them with a new mechanic that is often far less logical and intuitive. This is usually done under the pretext that they want to force people out of "cookie cutter" specs and gear. The sad irony is that the game is more simplified and cookie-cutter now than it's ever been.

Before the inevitable mass rate down begins for my post, perhaps one or two of you could actually think about writing a reply with a well reasoned opinion as to why I'm wrong. I very well could be, after all this is just my opinion. But a civil discussion as to why I'm wrong rather than just a mass rate-down for criticizing the infallible Blizzard would be a wonderful surprise.