There is a definite shift in the community into a polarized state, the hardcore raiders get more hardcore and gatekeep more based on their websites, 3rd party tools, required gearing, etc.
Then on the social side it becomes more and more gated by mods, discord servers, social groups, linkshells, etc.

It's sad to see but the casual MMO gamer who comes in after work to play a few hours and chip away at some goal or duty while they talk is a dying breed. Either you play for the story and unsub or you go fully into one of the hardcore groups.