The problem is that curation rewards aren't really curation rewards, they are agreement rewards.
If you disagree with a big stake curator , you will never get their vote no matter what you post in future . This creates a very cliquey platform and if you're not with the in crowd, you're hardly likely to succeed from a reward perspective.
The platform is simply about system gaming , quality posting is a minor attribute and as @enforcer48 said above , we need to get away from thinking it's purely a blogging platform.
Cliques are prevalent here and I benefit from that too. Not that I have any reciprocal voting deals with anyone. The big accounts hold the power and it is up to them if they decide to use it to improve matters rather then personal enrichment. They could do better in the long run if Hive grows and their stake gains a lot of value. That could dwarf their curation rewards.
Hive is an economy and I am no economist. For different people it's about investment, blogging, social, gaming or just a desperate attempt to earn anything. You can't reduce it to one thing.