How does it seem to lean toward the 352/359 crowd?
My druid is now at... 341 equipped. I've had NO issues tanking dungeons, so long as you get a competent group. THAT is the main problem. The only dungeon that really sucked was Vortex. We had nobody able to CC a damn thing there, so there were several wipes. We ended up finishing it though.
The other big problem is that you can start queuing up at 329 average ilvl, not equipped. You get every idiot that tries to join as soon as they hit 329, who can't break 4k dps. Its the players, not the game.
EDIT:
f that's the case, where is the "bridge" between what regular dungeons drop in terms of loot and what will allow you a measure of success in heroics? 20+ hrs a week grinding out JP? No thanks. Buying gold/farming to get lucky and buy epics off AH? Nah, not my thing. Being lucky enough to get pulled through heroics by no-lifers? Crafting some of your own epic gear? I'm a blacksmith and can craft 2 - 3 very nice epic-quality plate pieces to get me geared a bit better in heroics...the "screw you" is that some of the mats I need drop in...you guessed it...heroics more often than regular dungeons.
THAT is my biggest problems with players. They want all the rewards, without doing any work. I'm not in a raiding guild. I'm not a "no lifer" (why does having better gear make someone a no lifer?). I had some JP saved up from WoTLK. I began running my daily dungeons to get more. I got somewhere from 5-10k just from leveling to 85. I do my dailies - gold is coming out of my ears.
If you can't run the dungeons for the chaos orbs, pay someone. They are going for under 500g/each on my server. If you don't have 1k gold by 85, then you're doing something wrong. Everyone is stuck on WoTLK mode - gearing up without working for it. The expansion has been out for a month. Not everyone deserves to get everything already.