I think there is one major flaw with your logic original poster. That is how you start off by saying "The content in this game"...umm what you mean to say is the endgame content right? Because the vast majority of the "content" of this game does not require half the things you mentioned, i could probably kill things 5 levels above me naked if i felt like it. I mean I get what you are saying, but the truth is that due to the majority of the content, players are not properly prepared or trained on their class by the time they get to the end game content where all of a sudden you have to know what you are doing. That is a flaw with the base mechanics which should have been helping players grow to be more intelligent and resourceful gamers by the time they are level 50 and not the players themselves.