RE: Although subjectively downvoting posts to zero is anathema to me, the Layer 1 ability to do so must remain (for now at least)

No, I can't... but in a vague sense, it just doesn't seem set up to shadow ban a user - it would be more effort than it's worth.
Bastyon's biggest selling point is the encrypted chat - it's getting thousands of new accounts because of that.
I wasn't all that impressed with Pocketnet two years ago, but now it seems to be on the brink of going big. Rebranded, and going with encryption and no censorship, it's ready at the right time.

Blurt - I laughed at first as well - terrible name, and it got off to a slow start. But Hive is a terrible name too (hive mind), and Blurt is a real underdog. All it would take is a dozen big name Hive bloggers to move there and it could suddenly become hip. Bastyon is very different, but Blurt is basically Steemit without whales.

So if my days on Hive are pretty much over, I have three options - Bastyon, Blurt, or a new Hive based front end that's in the works. One way or another I want no downvoting. At this point I'm open minded, and waiting to see how things play out. I've met some amazing people on Hive and if we are going to be forced off the Hive platform, I want to keep my contacts in one place