For my part, I don't really care that much about the effectiveness aspect. At least locally, almost all real self-defense is about weapons, since the attacks are almost always done (according to both crime stats and talking to cops who train) with knives, bats, and sometimes firearms, and as often or not, two or more attackers.
The really bad part of the rule changes (since 1981, not just the recent ones) is that they've drained much of the creativity out of judo, making it a rule based sport where the ideal is to mirror some aesthetic to such an extent that it just isn't fun for most people, especially kids. I hear this as well from people who come from IJF clubs to our judo club (where what we do looks like 1970's judo - with the addition of leg locks from 1925 judo ... actually taught by a BJJ black belt but that's a detail :icon_lol: ) - they say it becomes fun again, because its about what you can come up with and do, not about what's illegal. You shouldn't have to be a judo-lawyer (one of my student's phrases when he changed clubs ... at ikkyu level) to do judo, but that's what its becoming.
This is especially true with kids, but a lot of adults say the same thing. And as others have pointed out, Greco has a very small following except for a few countries, because it too is so restricted that its just not fun for many people. Most people want to be able to roll around and try things naturally in grappling, to see what works, rather than be constrained by rules and form. Its the same reason kata isn't very popular in judo, its too restricted.
That lack of restriction is the best thing BJJ has going for it, and its a big part of why its more popular in North America. It feels more natural not to have so many illegal grips etc. In a lot of ways, BJJ looks more like traditional (say up to 1960) judo than modern judo does. Of course, I'm told the international BJJ federation is now beginning to make the same mistakes the IJF made, to cleans BJJ of elements it doesn't like, so maybe that won't last.
