To me it sounds like you should care less about what the hermits are doing. You have to remember basically every Hermit plays on that server as their full time job, sometimes 12 hours per day. The average person might be able to play 6 hours of minecraft on a calm weekend. You will progress a lot slower than the Hermits and will have nowhere near the amount of practice they have, seeing as they have all been playing the game nonstop since its early days. It's kind of sad, but true, but it's important that you do what makes you happy in the game. Don't worry about how fast the hermits are progressing.
