HC4: Is the large prize pool the root of the problem?

HC has always had a whacky format, and huge thanks and respect to T90, who imo played a large role in "reviving" the community.

Still, HC4 has sparked a lot more discussion than earlier iterations. Should player identities be hidden from each other at all cost (btw, I suggest revealing them to the other players AFTER the Ro16)? Was the home map situation between Bipo and Herald fair? Do the finals have to be played live, even if it may be a heavy disadvantage for one of the players? Is the random seeding really necessary, is it not enough to keep player identities hidden from the viewers? Is it in the spirit of HC that some players hinted at who/where they were to other players to make sure they could practice together? Is it fine that possibly not the best 2 players were in the final, but just the best and Hera (joking, don't lynch me)?

The answer to most of these questions is probably no from a competetive point of view. But HC is not about fairness and strict competetiveness, and that was okay last year. What has changed?

The prize pool is much higher. And while that is great for everyone, it is (in my opinion) the main reason why people are calling out for more fairness, and why players may find it hard to decide how far they should go for practice. It seems to me that the (compared to other tournaments) large prize pool itself is against the spirit of the tournament.

So what is more important? The whackiness and "traditional" spirit of the tournament, or the competetive side due to the large prize pool? It's easy to say "hurr, it's always been like that, stop complaining", but I am really not, and all of us are really not in the players' shoes

The takeaway? To sum it up: Who would care if the tournament is unfair if the prize pool was 5000$? I have 0 solutions, just wanted to put the current discussions in perspective. It's up to T90 to decide which route to take and how much whackiness is good. Either way, I loved the tournament and am super excited for HC5, hope to see Monkey Head Hero stomp the rest of the plebs. Thanks to everyone involved!