Well, yes... it appears to be a "pay-to-win" game, but my question is whether or not there is actually any real WINNING involved? You pay a bid bot 20 SBD for what looks like a $35 vote... but in the course of the post's life that slides to $30, and then you give $7.50 to curators, so now you're down to $22.50, and you get 11.25 SBD and the current fiat rate equivalent in Steem... meaning you actually ended up slightly "upside-down" on the transaction.
The only real "winner" there is the bot operator who (risk free) gets to collect income from SELLING something most people give away for free.
So I can't ever entirely view it as "pay-to-win," but more as supporting a "the rich get richer" paradigm.
Yes, this is essentially what I was trying to say.
I'm in the midst of trying to shift this paradigm and create some healthy traction within Steemit. I'll be releasing it in a week or so. I have an idea that I think you'll like - so stay tuned :)