I blame the game's direction.
I'm sorry, but when you build a game entirely around your iLVL and the impact your gear has on your performance this is what you will get. Grind at its finest.
There is no choice: you either have this piece in this slot or you suck and are useless. No matter how good you are at playing this hybrid action-RPG of a game.

I come from nine years on XI (most of them at end-game) and I have seen my fair share of "elitists", jerks and what have you. But seeing this kind of situation when the game is barely 1 month old worries me.

I love what they have done with this game, I enjoy the lore and the setting. But some of the mechanics at work here are terrible and need to be revisited.
I look forward to what they have in mind for the next patches, but I'm hoping they'll take a different turn for the future.