Unfortunately, that's the downside of pushing competitiveness, you also get lots of drawbacks coming with it, some of them making it look like it's not really worth it in the end.
I can only speak for myself but same as GI, in the 8 years spent in that community I have found my best memories in balancing things between the competitive and casual aspect of the game, and I would not give up on either of them for all the gold in the world.
But yeah, I totally understand why some people don't like competition and prefer what looks in their books like a more healthy and friendly type of environment.