Is min/maxing a flaw of a game, or the players?

[Amake]

I don't know how useful it might be to assign blame, but balancing a game perfectly is a lot of work for a game developer if they want to make a game with any degree of complexity, and they could probably use that time to do something more interesting, like writing new games or new modules. Whereas the player abusing the system - obeying the letter of the law while ignoring its meaning, as it were - is probably doing something wrong if by doing so they're spoiling everyone else's fun. As I like to tell pirates in Eve Online, if you choose to be an asshole, just because the game allows it doesn't make you a nice person for being an asshole; you're still an asshole.