For the downvote pool... I'm pretty curious to see how it turns out. I guess there is no other way to know other than submitting the change to the wild public! However, speaking only of myself (and let's be honest, most of the comments and analysis about all these changes are at best speculative and anecdotal...).... the reason that I don't use downvotes more often is the fact that I'm more scared of retaliation, thus... I use steemcleaners as a reporting station.... for plagarised content.
This is what I think is mostly missing from the discussion... little accounts like mine... we put in effort for comparatively little return... which means we are building slowly over time, all this can be smashed to pieces on a whim by a larger account with an axe to grind. Thus, the power balance is completely against me if I disagree with the rewards or quality of a post/comment. It is more in my interest to move on and concentrate on building. The curation game is something for larger accounts with the ability to defend themselves. The risk for small accounts is just not viable... even more so, when you don't know who the true owner behind an account is....
So... long way of saying...I'm not sure that rc/loss of upvote power is the driving force behind lack of downvoting to help curation... I think fear of retaliation is the main problem.
... on a slightly unrelated topic. Large accounts (especially curation or "free" upvote for use) need to be really conscious that people are farming their good intentions. Removing votes from bad actors is not enough... they also need to be flagged and reported... however, I do see that it is more fun to give out sweets rather than to slap someone!