I have 7 1K hats and its not because I wanted customized hats but it's less time consuming than trying to go to 5K or 10K. I have attempted going for 5K with TaKaii but you need patience, loyalty, and energy to even accomplish such a high feat which is something majority lack due to (school, work, personal issues). Plus 1K isn't exactly easy, it's 3-6 months estimate of your time to sacrifice.

Keep the system how it is, remove Swamp or Deadwood fort since there's a minimum of player activity, and tweak the allies/subs.


The way I see it is:
The hat is a bonus, the people you encounter matters