I was in a casual RP focused FC where I had the reputation of a DPS monster who turned every roulette into a speed run, and I eventually wondered if I was good enough to try a PuG of A1S. I immediately found that I enjoyed the more difficult mechanics and the stricter DPS requirements. I also Flowers For Algernon'd myself in the process and found that the enjoyment I got out of normal mode stuff was relatively muted.

So I stuck with it, mostly through PF groups until I accidentally ended up in a static during The Creator.