Feedback on Rewards

I've just started doing a few races here and there with a friend, and I have to say, the achievable rewards to anyone but the most hardcore racer are essentially worthless. I'm at the point where I'm giving away Quill Rains and Shiverstings and Karui Wards - they're worth maybe a fusing or two in Default. Not only do these extra-common low-value uniques fill up the entire reasonably-achievable level of the point reward, they also are generally the mainstay items given out randomly in every event as well. Therefore, in an average 90 minute race, the points I get are likely to earn me a Unique I already have five of, and if I get lucky enough to win a random unique, I win the same thing.

In order to win something I don't already have duplicates of, I'd have to earn 200 points. That'd be 50 4-point rewards, and assuming a 90 minute race average and a 4-point reward in three out of four races, it'd take me 100 hours of racing to get, and I'd have to participate in about 65 different races. To get a really interesting reward, I'd have to almost double that.

In that time, I could probably run three hundred maps, farm up forty or fifty different uniques, etc. It just isn't at all a compelling incentive to participate in the events. While I do occasionally enjoy participating in something like the Immolation events, the reward really has to be more substantial to draw me away from what I'm already doing.

It comes down to opportunity cost. If I quit what I'm doing (leveling a new character, farming maps, whatever) to run a race where there's the opportunity to die and achieve no points at all, where I can't use any twink gear, and where conditions are often harder than default, then the reward for participating should be greater than what I could have earned in the same amount of time, plus risk factor reward, plus limited engagement/special event incentive (I have to do them on the game's time, not when it's necessarily convenient for me). Right now those rewards aren't there.

I don't mean that the events should feel mandatory in order to optimize profit. However, they should feel at least competitive, or have a chance to offer something amazing. The potential for a worthwhile reward should exist without having to earn 360-600 points. Otherwise, every time I race, I feel like I'm essentially losing what I could have earned in the meantime, for potential rewards I really could care less about.