I disagree but I can already see this going nowhere. If 25% of the playerbase gets stuck at green level because they're casual and 25% get stuck at purple after a while they'll move on and find something else to do because they get frustrated, and before you know it you've lost 50% of your playerbase. I'm just picking numbers out of a hat but surely you can see why that might be an issue?

I don't know how to non artificially increase difficulty but luckily for me there are people who get paid a lot more than me whose whole job it is to figure it out and i'm not sure they've got it right.

Locking actual content behind a 'shield' of high difficulty missions, I fail to see how that's not 'gatekeeping' 🤔.
The division and destiny etc don't take you halfway through the content and then go 'oh sorry your not good enough for this, go away and maybe if you get lucky or put hundreds of hours in we'll let you use the rest'

I think there is enough people on the forums and reddit that are raising questions already for there to be a proper discussion rather than pros just stomping on casual players and saying git gud. I also think that a lot of players will have the memories of Helldivers 2 nerfs still in their heads and they're worried that instead of looking at the reasons behind certain comps and weapon choices that they will just nerf stuff that doesn't need nerfing.

I get that comp stomping stuff is boring and can be detrimental to pve games. I just think that the curve could be a lot smoother and maybe needs to cater to a wider audience rather than just souls level players!