Thanks @cebymaster :) You're a valuable curator in #curie so I appreciate your thoughts. We are just trying out Payout Declined - we'll respond to feedback from the Steemit community.
Interesting perspective that it should trending. I guess you are right - if I were a new author I'd be more motivated to post. We have also seen several new authors join #curie and submit their own posts saying they found out about the project through Daily Curie.
If it should be trending I think it should be modified to be more appealing on the front page. While I agree that it deserves the support of the community, it is clear from Alexa.com stats that the Steemit front page has a much higher bounce rate in recent months. We need to focus on getting users to stay longer by having the most appealing content at the top.
Yes, I completely agree with you. As some may have noticed, Curie is collaborating with Steem Guild to get some of the best posts into Trending.