Silblade, I think that what you and some other people on this thread (like that madman, Schmurzeli) are missing is that people aren’t claiming, literally, that “you have to get LW”. You’re absolutely right in saying that it’s optional, per se. But that’s really not what the other side is saying.
What the other side is saying, as far as I understand, is something along the lines of:
“I shouldn’t have to be forced to do something like this just because I want to perform as well as I can”
And, frankly, I think that’s a legit claim. Wanting to perform to your best (not necessarily 100% parse, as that involves some RNG too, but yeah) is a legitimate aspiration for any player, and it’s just as understandable that said player may have reserves about what the game demands of them in order to achieve that result. Stuff like wbuffs, drums etc. are criticized because they add arbitrary and unneccessary burdens to that goal for no perceived improvement to the gameplay experience, at all.
Ofc, you could always reply “by that logic, why not removing consumables outright? After all, if everything’s just a nuisance to the minmaxer… !” But the thing is, you might argue that - within certain limits - consumables do have a positive effect on the game. I have yet to see a convincing argument for why the profession-locked nature of drums somehow adds something to the gameplay, for comparison.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not particularly concerned about drums per se - they’re certainly not as toxic as wbuffs are, as far as I’m concerned. But I think the whole “you don’t have to do it” mindset is misguided to begin with. Either you’re misunderstanding what the other players are asking, or you’re basically telling them “you have no right to demand this from the game”, which I think is just stupid. People aren’t asking to not have any meta, but for the meta itself to not involve certain things.