@topic:
I would only consider someone a "bad player" if he not only did not know basic game mechanics, but also did not try to learn them or improve himself, and ignores any good criticism, opnion or tip someone shares with him. Someone who's genuinely trying to learn and know how to make good use of other player's hints'n tips is a good player in a my book, as far as "skill" goes.
Using Ifrit battle as an example, I'm not talking about the guy who might be wanting to try out a "bad" setup, or that dies at every eruption because he's having a hard time evading it. I'm talking about the guy that keeps using Firaga and ignoring when someone points out he's doing nothing but heal the beast.
No offense but, once figured, all of the current endgame fights are relatively simple and can be easily done even with random people you never met, provided they know what they are doing. Yes, the battles are not exactly "easy" and require a major initial effort to discover their quirks (Plume zones, ghost moves, moogle kill order, etc), devise good tactics around those quirks and perfect em, but after you do that it's a matter knowing basic game mechanics. Unless you want to be server first, they're hardly "hardcore only".