On the lack of humanity in our community.

[Bishop81]

Once games like this get big enough the sense of players being "disposable" or "replaceable" becomes very common, which is the driver behind a lot of the behavior you are describing. There isn't a whole lot that can be done about it, I'm very sorry to say. Best thing you can do is keep looking for a place that's right for you.

Cynical but does appear to be correct.

Since content requires a group, people will group to get what they want. But that is the extend of the relationship. "You scratch my back, I scratch yours. If you can't scratch my back, I want nothing to do with you." is the motto by which these players operate. Ironically these very players will tell you this is a MMO, that content where the whole group fails if one person messes up is a requirement because it's "social"; on the surface, yes, it's "social", as social as an employee being all smiles towards his jerk boss while wishing he could punch his lights out.

Would be nice if there were group content where players have the opportunity to voluntary, altruistically, help each other out.