Sounds like HF21 is going to make it even harder for newcomers. The superlinear curve is designed to minimize, wipeout, whatever the proper term is, rewards below a certain point. I've heard six and 16 steem, which for most of us is a monster sized amount. No way most of us get 16 steem on posts, so I don't know what to make of that. But as they continue to wage war on the spammers and the plagiarists, and going after the larger farms, they're taking out the legit users, too.
So, we'll see, as you say. We won't really know until it's up and running and people are doing whatever they're going to do.