I was lucky enough to experience HHN since 2001, as a horror obsessed demon child I thoroughly enjoyed it
But the event has grown leaps and bounds over those days and I think people forget that those days were lower budget, lower tech, and lower crowds
But I do appreciate hearing from those that experienced HHN at its most primative, and warn everyone about how terrible an event at IOA would be lol
As far as "gatekeeping" in the "community" it's hard to compare the old days to the new days as the event has gone through so much change.
In other words, I really don't care how many times someone has gone as each year really is different from the last and should be judged on its own merit