mainly the entire problem is created by the fact that the minnow votes are not valued. I feel the same as you actually. I sometimes get 300+ votes and a payout of like say, $76 and a shitload of comments. I am thinking to myself, "How the fuck can this be?" And I have quite a reach and a large amount of followers too. I am frustrated that my influence does not carry more weight with regards to the payout. And this is caused by the fact that the minnows are not valued, not heard and do not feel loved. This is a huge problem. If bots are ruining the chances that minnows are not feeling valued, it's time to reduce the bots or have some kind of rules regarding the bots.......we cannot place robots and people in the same category! Humans deserve more value!
I've often heard that the reason minnows' vote weight is not more is because people would abuse the system by having their bots upvote their posts.