I hate how hostile the game dev scene is to newcomers. Unless you have a game to show for or a success story, they don't give a shit about you. What gives?

Many gamedev companies can't take risks because they don't have much operating budget (it doesn't exactly pay very well unless you're a big established company). Also considering the number of people who want to go into gamedev they do need to filter people out. So they would like some sort of proof of quality.

Someone who has gone through the rigmarole of publishing a game would be a safer bet than a random dude. A degree in a related field would help too.

I think they just don't want to waste their time for someone that isn't going to do anything with that knowledge. It's like those comments underneath YouTube tutorials: "Code gives error. Please give working Code".
No fuck you, do it yourself.
Nobody knows if you are worth their time, and there's a lot of black sheep.
So try to look as interested as possible, especially when asking questions, cite sources you already looked at, explain your problem etc.

The game dev business is hard, you will get the most success in companies who make educational games or by starting as indie yourself