During season 3 and 4, when the Hellhounds were available, I had to stop Feasting as someone very dear to me was stricken with cancer and I stopped to help support them. There is nothing like a life-threatening illness affecting someone you love to shift your priorities (they are in remission now). So, yeah. Those are the facts.
If someone wants to twist that and say "well you didn't work hard enough, you don't deserve it", then I hope something similar NEVER happens to you or someone you care about, because all those digital rewards in a game? They mean absolutely NOTHING at that point.
I say this not to "make excuses" or any of that nonsense, but to tell you ("you" as in all players) that you have NO idea what someone on the other side of the screen is going through or dealing with in their lives and some overblown competition absolutely comes second, or third, or five-hundredth in the list of priorities.
