I may not have been around for any of the recent events but I believe giving out items that others have worked for is a bad move. I don't know how bugged everything was but handing out the number one prize as a "Participation Award", will make later events seem more like a waste of time. If you want to make up for issues players experienced for something that you feel was your fault then something else will have to do. It may not be me this time but I can't explain the nasty feeling I get when I worked hard and gave my best to win something only for it to be given away to everyone at a later date for nothing. It makes me wonder why I even tried, when I can just complain about not receiving anything and wait for my handout.
It's an unpopular opinion because everybody wants the exclusive skins they don't have. However once it's no longer exclusive, and everybody has it, then nobody wants it.