It was easy to see something was wrong when certain folks who actually do a good job struggle on steemit, but the post is trending in one of the tribes. So now, hopefully, things will balance out the good stuff can rise again.

Myself, I certainly don't expect to see the same reward outcome with each post now. It should fluctuate, and it is. That's how organic works. Those who depend on a circle and receieve rewards regardless of content always seem to remain at the same level, so with actual curation happening, they lose that circle advantage as well. Once in comfort zone, they rarely improve, people get bored, the blog stagnates.

Quality matters. And if not for everyone else, do it for yourself, so there's something to be proud of. It's also far easier to explain to the crowd something like, "Hey! I've been here for sixth months, working my ass off, and nobody is noticing! What the hell you guys!" Then people look and say, "Oh. Shit. Sorry. Thanks for getting my attention." If it's all shit posts though, then yeah, that's why nobody is noticing! Or maybe they did notice, and quickly looked away.