And it's exactly this mindset that is becoming a major problem for MMO's in general.
Now instead of the reward being one of teamwork and accomplishment (intangible things) to down a difficult boss, has turned into a cry out for bigger, better, cooler looking equipment/accessories. True satisfaction seems to be the real problem. Which is why I will always lean towards the side of the "Hardcore Players". At least some of them have a sense of what it means to achieve something for themselves and teammates, rather than have it handed to them on a silver platter.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying to completely get rid of bosses dropping "phat lewt", just simply pointing out where the majority of the focus has shifted towards.
It's sad to see, that such things are fading from the real world and now the game world. But things like teamwork and friendship was the idea from Square, when they decided to let the Japanese and English Speaking players play on the same servers. Noble actions like this, hold much more reward than any item ever could.