Interestingly I have seen a lot of level 1 hamlets over the last couple weeks, so either people are getting bored with it, bored with the game in general or have got their seals already.

Not a good sign

Going all out as you say is the only way to get a top 3 spot but the whole system sucks in that regard, I feel it would be better off with a cap that anyone can obtain if they put in the hard work.

I've heard several times on my server that certain guilds were standing by with 8 million worth of provisions, so no matter what you do you can't win against that unless you are willing to piss away 6-7 million worth of provisions.