Yeah I've got my own playgroup, and while it's got its own problems, I think it's still so much better than playing with some salty randos at the LGS.
Regarding proxies, I bought a couple non-sexy ones on etsy so I wouldn't have to take my most valuable cards with me, and now like 50% of my recommendations are big tiddie anime proxies. Even my search results have them inserted, even when I search for something completely unrelated. That site is wack.