This is such a joke. Elitist, even. Technology-sourced friction is not a great thing. Software that is hard to run does not improve the act of running it. It just prevents others from experiencing the same things you enjoy.
Are you really suggesting that you bond with fellow gamers because of how hard setting up the game was?
Yes. And in the scene I am describing we are being overrun with tourists because everybody is just so damn inclusive now. There's nothing wrong with elitism; it keeps things hardcore and gives newcomers something to strive for.
When I was a kid I heard about a group of hippies that would have parties deep into the desert, far from roads or civilization. They had a "list", and if you were on it you'd get invited to the parties. Long story short, I figured out how to get on the list and one of the coolest things about those parties was how much effort everyone who attended went through to get there, both in however they managed to get invited and how much of a potential ordeal the journey was just to show up. The friends I made there put me on my current life course and now I'm surrounded by great people and a good tribe, which is really hard to find once you finish university. All because I put in the effort to get on the list and attend.
Sure, not making things super easy creates slightly less inclusive communities and they are definitely smaller, but they're longer lasting, have some shared plight to bond around, and are generally of much higher quality. Allowing any old yokel easy access kills community because there are too many tourists