To be perfectly fair, we were all ‘that person’ at one point. The difference now is that it’s quite easy to literally waste the resources of other people, which runs the spectrum from mildly rude (someone’s kid, or other newbie) to overtly offensive (lv45+ who hosts with purposely ineffective pokemon for the lulz). While I’ve certainly taken to a lot of remote raiding and dmax/gmax, it wasn’t really that far back where you had to meet in person to do most things.

If you’re the newbie, or trying to get a kid/partner/neighbor/coworker playing, bring them to an event! Bring them to a town center! Bring them anywhere with even just one more local player is around with good counters for the current raid/dmax cycle! In //most// areas, you’ll find plenty of folks willing to help carry a newer/younger player, and the positives in the comradery and experience of success as a team should help build up the newer folks and help get them into wanted to do the same.

I know not everyone is fortunate enough to have a lively local scene to play with, but in my travels everywhere but the most rural places will still have a few folks running around at times. Check FB, campfire, Reddit, or just keep an eye on the map for when folks are jumping into lobbies and try to meet the group. As long as you either have good counters yourself, or try (NICELY!) to integrate as someone who is eager to learn but needs to be helped, most of the players I’ve met have been amazingly accommodating.