The Exploitation Game - Worth it? Needed?

Seems all we see are ways to glitch and exploit the game. As a filthy "casual" player with a day job and fake adult responsibilities, the question becomes:

Do I really need to join these Exploit/Glitch farms to even have a prayer in DZ or not get booted out of Challenge Mode Incursion runs for having a low GS?

It just seems like anyone who doesn't take advantage of the exploit farms are losing a lot of shit and get pushed further and further behind as the average Gear LVL goes up and Massive balances for that in future updates.

TLDR: You either farm or you die? Yes? or No?

FYI: My GS is 186 with a 131 FWM1A because I've had that gun since the early days, and people still laugh at me for not being at 190+ in DZ groups and Incursion challenge runs. My buddy and I like challenges... we duoed Incursion because no one wants to play with us for low GS... and we still did it.