Why I Decided to Become an Elitist

[Kallera]

The entire point is the "common usage" in this context is using the word with a specific bias attached to it. The word, by definition, carries no explicit bias and can, as the op is saying, be used in a non-negative manner. The bias itself is the problem. Not the meaning of the word elitist.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/elitist
"Elitist or élitist
adjective
Characteristic of or resembling a snob:
snobbish, snobby.
Informal: high-hat, snooty, stuck-up, uppish, uppity.
noun
One who despises people or things regarded as inferior, especially because of social or intellectual pretension:
snob.
Informal: snoot.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved"


From https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elitism:

"The term elitism is also sometimes used to denote situations in which a group of people claiming to possess high abilities or simply an in-group or cadre grant themselves extra privileges at the expense of others. This form of elitism may be described as discrimination..."

Look, if I meet a person, and am convinced that they have seen more of the game than me, and they insist I do something i disagree with based solely on the gear that they have, what is that? Snobbish behavior.

If they say I should do something i disagree with or else a certain mechanic will kill me, that is not snobbish behavior.

And the very fact that you have to call it that way makes your comparison fall flat on its face.