I really like your tiered system idea!
You also make a good point in that, even though whales benefit financially from the current setup, the downside is that people are chasing after them just for their status. Who wants to be 'loved' just for the money?
Yes these Steemit users are "Whale Hunters" 😂 or maybe "Captain Ahabs" is a better term .... How to stop Whale hunting? Well make the Whale blubber a much less profitable resource of course!