You forget that although the Splinterlands game itself is powered by the HIVE network, there is still 50% of content that is barely read or seen in the general community. Some people convert these earnings directly into Splinterlands assets, or other games in the ecosystem, or invest in other cryptocurrencies by sending them to Binance. I know more than 10 Splinterlands players who don't get involved with the Hive ecosystem. They just create posts to get their votes and stay in the game. Since the income from card rentals and other assets seems to be at a low point.
Just stop measuring your situation with your ruler and trying to implement others.
RE: Addressing Resource Extraction and Curation Challenges in Splinterlands Contests