I hold little to no faith in people when it comes to playing fair rather than cheating the system: supposedly "solo" ranked is the best example of it - not only premades are formed on disc but doing so is encouraged and considered a norm. Hardly "solo" experience it was advertised as. That's why if there ever comes the time when premade and pug ques will be separated I'm certain some players will form groups on discord to farm pugs and feel better about themselves. What frustrates me is that no matter who I talk to the consensus is the same: premade vs premade is not a thing because noone likes to loose.
Premade vs pugs is guaranteed win. If encounter ratio were to be 50:50 between grp play and random que I'd have no problems with it. At the moment the only sure way to avoid premades is to form one - this does not "educate" players to group up, it encourages them to farm those new to the game. Those filthy solo pugs who know no better, it's their own fault for not wanting to commit, right? Or for wanting to play one-two scenarios in-between quests, before logging out or simply trying to have a little bit of fun without being judged and yelled at in chat by "pro" chads when /5 grp looses vs pugs. The moment a group encounters other group more than twice people stop queing - and that's neither normal, nor is it healthy.
On one hand "hardcore" players are the dedicated playerbase of the game. On the other without new players, without pugs, numbers can only dwindle - and the game needs new players. It needs some form of environment where they can learn, experiment and yes, make mistakes. Scenarios were supposed to be that training ground to prepare them for harsh reality of oRvR - not the end game RoR is trying to make out of them - especially in mid tier. Saying that "there is pug scenario" means getting one pop for every other four and staying in que for a long, loong time, doing same map over and over again. And, just like with solo ranked, it quickly becomes rather obvious that despite supposedly solo experience there are some players coordinating on disc in supposedly pug environment. Non-pug (premade) scenarios quickly become empty when premades are pitted against each other. Scenarios simply need pugs or there are hardly any popping. Just like with city where "chad" premades dodge que and cheat the system to find a way of easy mode pug farming.
Is there a middle ground? I'm sure there is, but it requires both the dev team and playerbase to work together. However the premise of this topic was removing PUG altogether - and let's face it, solo ranked is just ranked with faster (ironic, isn't it?) ques where disc groups are formed - and this is something I'm vehemently against. RoR needs new players. What it doesn't need is elite, toxic mentality turning away new people and making core playerbase bleed out month after month.