Curation rewards are the problem. They financialize curation, allow profiteers to game it for financial return
You can make this argument like four years ago but you can't make it now.
There is no gaming the system.
It's a flat return.
No one has an advantage and you have yet to provide an example... because there is no example.
Anyone can upvote anyone they want.
Curation no longer rewards the accounts that voted at the 5 minute mark.
There are other metrics that determine how to maximize return on upvotes. Timing was only one of them.