I've been in this game since 2005. I watched it go from Mystery Method, to Style, to RSD, to red pill, to MGTOW, to looksmaxxing. Each generation got more disconnected from women and more obsessed with men ranking other men.
Now we have a community of guys comparing canthal tilts on PSL forums, hammering their own faces because they read about Wolf's Law in a Reddit comment, and not talking to women at all. Most of them haven't kissed one.
The pickup community at its best taught men to walk up to a woman and start a conversation. Looksmaxxing teaches men to optimize their face for the rating other men will give them.
The game forgot what it was for.
I just published a 4,000-word breakdown: where looksmaxxing came from, what they got right, what's getting young men hospitalized, and why softmaxxing combined with actual PUA fundamentals is the version that works.
If you came up in this community and you've been watching the new generation lose the plot, you'll recognize a lot of what I named.
Here's a normie's guide to Looksmaxxing if you want to catch up on what the hell is going on without getting too lost in the weeds down that rabbit hole:
https://www.abcsofattraction.com/blog/looksmaxxing
P.S. This is also the launch of a 5-part series. Coming next: how to dress to attract women, the Asian male haircut guide, Korean skincare for men, and fitness for men. The full looksoptimization framework I've been teaching at bootcamps for 20 years, finally written down.