I really don't know much about how resource credits work (and I've been here quite some time now). I was under the impression that when Steem became more expensive that the value of your RC would go up with it. If it won't then I too fear that very few will want to join Steem under those conditions.

Having said that, I can also say that there are people who offer simple ways to earn steem, its just that it is not easy to find them. Then again, I've noticed that some new users who have found my blogs and know that I up-vote all good interactions/responses don't stick around. I don't know if they expect larger payouts per vote or if they don't realize that a 4-cent vote in today's market is actually a pretty decent-sized vote. It just boggles my mind that people will ignore my efforts to help them grow. Initially, I had intended to grow my account simply by earning and helping others along the way, but soon realized that the rate I was earning was not keeping up with inflation. I actually bought Steem so that I can dole out bigger votes. I'm also taking delegations so that I can use the delegated VP to increase the vote worth. Despite all that, I'm seeing a decline in the number of people actually participating on my pages. I can only assume that people are not really all that interested in earning Steem from participation.