The main problem (IMHO) is the tome bonus (and has been since 2.0). There are a lot of players (like myself) who research fights beforehand, know the fight, and just need to get into a group to get the kill. But when the tome bonus shows up for the entire raid to see, it goes south from there. Starting your own group isn't a viable option either: the quantity and quality of players you get in a learning party isn't what it needs to be.

At the same time, the PUGing environment in this game is very strange to me. In virtually every other MMO I've played, if you tell the group leader, "I researched the fight, I know it," that is always enough. Yet in this game, no matter how much research you do, if the tome bonus pops up, you're in trouble.

It's a mess that needs to be fixed.