The introduction of dungeon finders (and soon raid finder) have done more to slowly kill the game than resilience though in my opinion. As much as I like them because if I want to run a dungeon I don't have to try forming or joining a group, they've removed almost all accountability and community from the game. If people are terrible they're simply votekicked from a group only to fuck up in the next random they get. You don't get to know anyone from your own server outside trade channel (which I have disabled on all of my toons) or running Baradin Hold. In Vanilla and most of TBC I knew almost everyone that raided in horde guilds on Tichondrius, and 2/3 or more of the people raiding in alliance guilds. Nowadays I know maybe a dozen people outside the group(s) I raid with, but I'll admit I don't play as much now as I did a few years ago and I haven't used IRC since before TBC was released which was where I got to know a lot of people from the opposite faction.
This is true, at first it wasn't so bad if you had friends to play with. Once your friends stopped playing you weren't making any new ones since there is literally no interaction with anybody. It's too much like a single player game at this point (outside of guild raids). Dungeon experience wouldn't be lessened in any way if the other 4 players were really bots. Dungeon finder was a great idea, it just had unforeseen consequences.
Newer players go through the queues without learning anything. The link to elitistjerks doesn't pop up when you hit 85, and nobody wants to teach someone they will never see again. You could literally teach every shitty player you encounter how to play and there would still be an endless supply. The game isn't hard, certainly not any harder than its been in the past. Server communities used to play a big role in educating other players. People used to have a vested interest, they could group with said people again or have them join their guild/raids whatever.
Dungeon finder/raid finder fail because they don't exclude you for playing poorly or even encourage you to play well. Having a free spot no matter how poorly you play has a consequence, any sense of competition or need for it is lost.
If I play exceptionally well in a dungeon and carry some shitty players we complete it and move on.
If I play exceptionally poorly in a dungeon and someone else carries we complete it and move on.
There is no difference whether I carry or get carried, the outcome is the same. Why try if you don't have to? There are no rewards or consequences for good/bad play. You don't get gear quicker and queue times don't get lower if you gem your gear correctly, pick the right spec, or play at the level of a competent human being. Instead of creating incentives for people to figure out how to play, they keep making it easier so they don't have to.
I now play the game for 2 hours a week, just enough to clear 7/7H FL.
