Yeah, back then downvotes literally cost people, i.e. they ate up upvote mana so most wouldn't use it as to not lose APR compared to everyone else, hence the "free downvote mana pool" which in some cases gets abused but they're thankfully very few of those cases. Those with a lot of stake who could abuse it the most are of course those who want to see the platform succeed so it kind of evens the risk out I think.