In that case you have low user retention as a result of the difficulty level in relation to obtaining rewards which although on a different topic (user rewards) furthers the point of the article that the economic incentives are not aligned with the goals and ambitions of Hive as a platform.
The series of questions you have, yes I’ve read the white paper and encourage all to read it. The link is here:
https://steem.com/SteemWhitePaper.pdf
With the other questions, most are answered by the white paper. What do I think about these things? I’m not going to publish those opinions at this time due to the fact that if Hive were my own business and I was looking at modifying it I would try to make subtle rather than drastic changes within the existing systems to alter the economic circumstances to bring the incentives in harmony with the ambitions of the platform. Think scalpel rather than chain saw.