100%. I think most men rely on the warm approach of social circle or OLD is common practice. I have to say, the SMP has transitioned to a dumpster fire quite gradually. The amount of single moms and tattoo covered or fat is unheard of. The lazy path does not end well. The most common example is easily found looking outside.
It's astounding how swipe apps and websites have taken over. I'm 37. I remember 20 years when I was in high school, online dating was regarding as the realm of losers. I remember hearing a radio segment while driving to school in either my junior or senior year of high school about the stigma of online dating. 15 years ago, by 2005, the stigma was mostly gone but there was still a vibrant offline game. In 2010, website game had picked up more than 2005. Women were getting their inboxes flooded by 2010 on Match, OkCupid, PlentyofFish, etc. Tinder launched in 2012. By 2014, swipe apps were more accepted than website dating ever was.
Yes, I agree that most guys default to social circle and swipe apps. If guys were doing in-person approaching, it was in bars. I saw less bar approaching in 2015-2019 as compared to 2005-2009.
Non-bar venue approaching ("day game") is a niche activity and will always be because the barriers to entry are high. Most guys don't have what it takes to approach women in a location other than a bar while sober.
A lot of guys dumpster dived for poontang at Meetup.com groups during the 2010s. That's a variant of social circle game. Meetup was never considered cool, and "cute" and "hot" women will usually only do things considered cool, so the talent pool at Meetups was usuaully substandard. Occasionally, a "cute" woman would go to an event and get swarmed by thirsty men with limited game. Someone with a slight bit of game could do ok at those but there were better uses of time.
A lot of social circle comes down to being geographically fixed for long periods of your life, especially in your 0-18 years. The most successful people I've seen in social circle game are people who stayed in one area during their childhood (to which they owe their parents a great gratitude) and stayed in that same area as an adult. I've rarely seen anyone who moved to a new city after age 25-27 be successful in social circle game, even if they stay in the same city for 5+ years or 10+ years. It's easier to build a social circle before your hormones kick in. If you're 27 and moving to a new city unattached, your hormones are raging and you're not going to have the patience or even the access to good social circles in most cases to be effective with it.
I don't disagree bUt let's be honest. The digital world is a microcosm of the culture and society. I think the woman you married and the environment she grew up in is polar opposite to the western world feminist dumpster fire SMP.
The amount of time suck on game is a WASTE but it is what kept me from baby mama drama and divorce rape. It taught me game, a lot of female nature, and why COMPLY OR BYE is gold. As I get older I am understanding the commandment about adultery. Why simp is disgusting. I was telling my mate about a Bender and getting girls. My mate was saying how he rather lift, meditate, pray or be on his purpose then bust a nut. More recently, he was telling me about his gf begging for it and he tells her no (sometimes). Prefers to go lift or bonfire with the boys.
Fundamentals are king. Nicely said.
The digital world is the true nature of women. Women face no consequences for bad behavior in the digital world. Her social circle is not informed when she acts rude, entitled, biatchy, or ghosts/flakes on some guy from a swipe app or a guy that slid into her DMs. Hypergamy runs wild on the apps and social media because a woman is garnering so much more attention there than she would in the real world.