Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25268225-20140411180345/@comment-2600:8804:8100:63E0:C914:3EE3:BAEC:6C09-20180517012219

It made sense before Dawnguard. Before Dawnguard, Vampires got stronger the longer they went without feeding, but if you reached stage 4, you were recognized as a vampire and would be attacked on sight. Since Dawnguard removed the Hate feature, there's no incentive to feed because it just makes your powers weaker. Dawnguard should have either reversed the stages (getting weaker the longer you go without feeding), or kept the Hate feature (making it so you still have to feed to live in towns).