Originally Posted by
Zojha
...or are simply unable to.
Or do you truly think that you can crank difficulty up perpetually, no matter how slow and gradual? At the top level of "worse than ultimate", it is obvious this doesn't work, but at any level below there will also be people getting cut off, either voluntarily because they can't be bothered and play a different game, or because they simply are unable to for whatever reason.
The end result really is what I said: You kick the lower end out of the game.
That aside, the thing about competitive games is: Yes, you do indeed only need to play marginally better than those around you. But when you do, your rating gets adjusted upward, the people around you get better and you yourself need to get better to get the same effect again. And then you need to do it again. And again.
If you are complacent with where you are, you will be stuck and lose just as much as you win, which isn't something people want or like.