Yes, mandatory team membership is unfortunately a major hurdle for a lot of BOINC crunchers. That might sound strange in today's crypto world, where new cryptocurrencies are rolled out on an (almost) daily basis. But BOINC exists for over a decade now and crunchers have developed very strong loyalties to their teams.
There is a continuous discussion whether or not to remove the mandatory team requirement, check this post for more details:
https://steemit.com/gridcoin/@cm-steem/gridcoin-s-mandatory-team-requirement-should-it-stay-or-should-it-go
Thanks. I read that when I was getting set up. It would be nice if they give up that requirement by the time I collect enough to start mining GRC without going through the pool.
It's funny. I can't even explain my decision process. Rather than switch from a team that I've contributed to for 12 years, I abandon WorldCommuityGrid entirely. I can't claim to have a good reason for it. Sunk costs, I guess.
Whichever way you think about it, science won. :)