I have an idea
As to why the fandom might be blowing up. I mean, there is a near constant flow of new players. I mean, when I first heard of MCL, it was an ad with Leigh on it. A lot of people have seen those adds and I even saw I few comments that 'I joined because of Leigh...'
I know I saw an ad with Alexy on it. How do we know it's not the same thing for these players? They see the ad and they're like, "Oh! He's cute, why not?" only to join the game and realize he's gay. There's a lot of players who are still for Leigh despite the fact that Rosa will forever be his girlfriend.
As older players, we have to realize that the new players are going to voice the same or close to the same protests we did when we were first starting out. Some of us were annoyed with the 10 AP a day and whatever else. As older players, we need to keep this in mind.