i wouldn't go that far, there are definitely decent hpa players about, hell one of the best airsoft days i've had was on a field were only a couple of people weren't running air yet the sportmanship, hit taking, general cameraderie and lack of douchebag behaviour was as close to perfect as you could ask for.
but i will acknowledge that there's enough people to make the stereotype a valid one, hell i even fell into that pit myself only to learn the hard way that no amount of dakka can penetrate plot armour and the only way to solve the problem of targets failing to acknowledge hits is to find a better quality target. meanwhile you realize that you've become the asshole when the shortest burst your gat can deliver is 5 rounds.
there are definite advantages to hpa, the trigger response on basically any solenoid system is nice, and even a good aeg struggles to get anywhere close. do you need that fast a response? no it absolutely does not make the difference between winning and losing but it sure feels nice.
with the right engine and supporting hardware the accuracy potential is as good as you're going to get on a smoothbore musket, but it isn't a magic bullet and the wrong setup can and will fail to hit the broadside of a barn from inside aforementioned barn. wether or not such accuracy is necessary is basically down to your playstyle, and imo the game works well when the "just get closer crowd" keeps the other guys at bay so the "stand and plink" crowd can cover from afar, so both playstyles are equally vallid.