Microblog Memes

It depends for me. Matchmaking is specifically employed to avoid the situation of one sided matches. That is, one player being completely unable to compete in any way because of difference i experience. Similarly, being the one doing the stomping can be more enjoyable, but not forever. Eventually it feels like playing against AI opponents, and you can't really develop high level strategies if you always have to keep in mind your opponent might be totally oblivious to anything you do. Typically you do want some grouping with at least similar skill level, so that you can go all without feeling bad or feeling held back. Perhaps some modern matchmaking is too strict, that's something to look at case to case.

I think an AI could replace the gameplay aspect of human players to a certain degree. But you're hitting the nail on it's head. The human factor would be lost. Human players do things that don't make sense at times, or to achieve an overhanging purpose that no AI could be taught. Most AI implementations (even if we're not talking about machine learning) are very static. Once you figure out a trick to confuse the AI, like hiding behind a specific wall to ambush them, it's not going to learn you can do that until a developer updates it. A human player would notice, and eventually would start expecting you to do it and fight against it. Within the same match. I'd argue it's currently impossible for AI to match that level of ingenuity, at least currently.

Personally, I've met some of the nicest people I know in PVP games. Has modern matchmaking made that harder? Probably. But not impossible. I also prefer community servers. But those games still exist out there. They're just much more niche, because it takes a specific kind of person to go for that. And it requires a level of discomfort of the player, as the steps to learn the ropes becomes much harder. Sadly, few people willingly take that route.