They weren't hating, that's what the results were showing at the time, but there was a small sample at that point as well.
Does it matter? Gregtech's design is objectively bad, and is rooted in the objectively bad design of IC2. Greg could rebalance his content, but chooses not to. Even then, his modpack is much more suited to people who prefer guidance in their play; no struggling for MC projects because Greg has told you what to build and what to grind for. So let's say the majority of players do appreciate a big, long, guided resource treadmill? There's still a substantial contingent who doesn't want/need that guidance.
I think a far more interesting result is how utterly dominant server play is.