I always thought the jump from 75/25 to 50/50 was a little extreme but saw its merit in the sense that you didn't just have to solely rely on author rewards to grow your stake. Also it encouraged more activity in a sense.
On the other hand, all one needed to do to get curation rewards was set up an autovote and hey presto, you get the same rewards as you give on auto to someone who may be busting their balls (or female parts).
Has a 60/40 or 66/33 author/curator setup been considered? Seems to be the best of both worlds if you want to keep encouraging authors and there is still enough of an incentive for curators?