Yeah I lived through it in BC and the first half of Wrath, I actually enjoyed that part of the game, having to actually interact with people to get groups going. People in general chat of zones trying to piece groups together for the leveling dungeons. That's how I made a ton of friends in the game, some of those people I still interact with to this day.
Now days people just press a button, get put in a group, don't say a word unless bad shit happens and they want to rage at each other, then they leave and press another button.
Now days gear is pretty much handed to you on a silver platter. You can take a fresh 120, spam mythic 10's with your guild and be 400+ ilvl and equal to hardcore raiders within a few hours. I miss back when getting gear felt like an accomplishment.
