I run a successful weekly PuG group for ICC 25 with a few hard modes. Usually we have 4-6 empty spots for a few dps and one healer. Since most people in the raid have a 6.2k+ gear score and competant, I am lenient on GS requirements. There are hard modes in there (Lady Deathwhisper, lootship, Dreamwalker, rotface, and Festergut) so I ask for 5.6k gear score, which isn't hard to get with frost / triumph emblems + 1 or 2 pieces of ICC 10 normal gear. If we don't get a full raid with that I cut out a few of the hard modes and depending on what I can pull together, the GS req goes down to 5.2 if that is all I can find, we just won't do most of the hard modes.
Of course I also check to make sure players that make this requirement aren't in full pvp gear, a few pieces is fine (like the neck, it is really helpful for a caster to make hit cap when starting out). Also if they are a little under the req, but say it is because certain pieces are good and just have a low ilvl, I will inspect them too, looking for good low ilvl stuff, like ulduar 25 trinkets and such, a great example is Greatness (http://www.wowhead.com/item=44253) which is an awesome trinket for starting feral druids, rogues, and hunters. I usually add 50 gs for that specific trinket alone.
I make exceptions for people my consistent puggers tell me are good and worth carrying and the good pugger's alts on non hardmode / Sindragosa and Lich King. It just takes some time, which you can use to get good at your character (co siding with "Skill > GS". There are of course exceptions, but chances are, if you have a 5.6k gear score from things that take time, like those emeblems, you are going to be good at your character.
I have brought people into my raid with Gear Score as low as 3.7k, which is "I just hit 80" gear, but they stayed alive, didn't die in void zones, DPS'd what needed to be, and he even got the bite rotation down first time. Now he has 5.9k GS and runs with us consistantly. This is a prime example of "Skill>GS". Unfortunatly, he is an exception to my requirement because three people vouched for him. If no one vouches for some random poorly geared player, how will I know if they have skill?
However, I constantly eat shit from people telling me I am bad for using Gear Score and constantly hear things like "Take players for skill not gear score" which I do for people that have shown themselves to me or other people in my raid (See the exceptions part). But this always comes from people with 4-5k GS, which, first of all is well below my requirement, and second, is blue gear + a few triumph pieces.
I know a lot of the MMO-Champion community generaly hates GS, but am I fair with it? I'm not one of those "LF heroics 6k gs req" tards. I ask for a certain gear level that is required to do ICC, and more or less carry in the hard modes. If you read this huge wall of text that I'm sure your health bar is in the red AND blinking from, you could see I have a fair requirement, I make exceptions for exceptional players, and I take the time to look at more than their GS, I just use it as a sort of template.
I put a lot of time and effort into making a good pug group, so I ask again, am I fair with how I make my raid and what I require of it?
There is not TL;DR possible without people getting the wrong idea on how I make my raid with GS
INB4: "GS SUCKS"