Thanks for the list of useful tools. Otherwise, this is one of the most discouraging posts I've read in awhile. You say:
Encourage talented authors to use them, otherwise only bid bots farmers will end up using them.
I wonder what the top end will be for the percentage of the reward pool the vote bots will be? 15% to 30% to 60%? What's to stop that? I vote less on people that use so many vote bots, and I've stopped following plenty of them, too. If the vote bots turn out to be good for the value of Steem, so be it -- and I'll benefit from that.
I could watch the QVC Home Shopping Network and late-night infomercials on TV. I could gamble online 24/7. Both of them are simply mind-numbing and ultimately depressing. The same is true - for me at least - with the bought vote and bid bots.
The vote buying has ruined the value of reputation, too, as it can be bought so easily. Maybe the SMTs and communities will put a clamp on all this, as quality communities can block out this behavior and set up their own reputation and reward structure.
Great points. I too think bid bots the way they are pose an issue for the reasons you raised. Where will it stop and what would be the reasons for it to reverse course. I look forward to a solution that would render them unprofitable.
That being said I'll probably use them on this very post.