It would be nice to delegate some RC to new users, just to get them going. As we've agreed on before, engagement is a truly important metric to measure Hive's potential success. As a community platform for social networking, if we don't engage more with each other, the platform would soon be dead, like Steemit as it is now, or maybe MySpace.
On that note, I think it's more than possible to get into Hive without having to buy in. It would definitely help in the long-run to make a personal investment, even a fairly small one, but if your financial situation doesn't allow for it, then buying HP is far from needed.
I remembered starting on Steemit a year ago, and it was certainly a slog to be allowed only a few comments per day with the SP that I had then. But slowly and surely, as I engaged more, and as I started to earn curation and (mostly) author rewards, it got my RC quickly up to a point where I needn't think of it anymore. That said, I was fortunate as I had really good for support from the community on my posts back then :-D
I agree as I started from zero here too, but most won't go through the same (fitted for themselves of course) process. The point I bought a little was the time things changed for me though, as my attitude shifted also. I bought only a small fraction (at the time) of what I already held.
It compounds quite fast and I have been surprised as I have watched people grow around me and them go from day 1 to veteran.
It really does! It brings a tear to my eye to see how fast they've grown. Certainly, depending on one's personal needs, powering up is pretty great idea in general. It's worthwhile to have some stake in something if you're committing heart and soul into it. Plus, it's a good investment for the future too, risk adjusted, as we'll see Hive's growth. Cheers!