@ackza I'll take your words into consideration but I think one of the biggest problems facing Steem today is we have a shit ton of unexceptional content receiving exceptional rewards.

This, in and of itself, may deter shrewd investors and newcomers without too much capital to invest in the prevalent system of stake based manipulation of rewards. That is the name of the game these days. It's become less about sweat equity and more about stake especially with the rise of the bots.

I know I reached a point where I stopped investing as much into Steem when this became evident along with other issue such as the incentivization of self voting that tends to conflict with my ideals / principles.

I don't think I am the only one with this type of sentiment. A lot of people are frustrated.