don't take it personally
Of course it's personal. It's bullying, pure and simple, to enforce a certain behavior.
plan to shift back to being curators now
That's a pipe dream. Vote selling has become even more profitable now with the 50/50 split. In any event, whatever anybody is planning doesn't give them the right to bully people into behavior they deem appropriate.
Just because you folks promote your work, that doesn't mean people have to enjoy it
This is true, no guarantees. However, I have tried to explain to you already, the most valuable content takes too much of an investment in time and money to take the risk of being downvoted IN ADDITION to not being "liked" i.e. upvoted on its own merits. So these content creators will leave or never join in the first place because they can't win, no matter what. What's left is a few idealists and that's not enough.
Think of it as a rock band: In one town, they give concerts and sommetimes they bomb, occasionaly they have a full house and a fun gig. Risky, but on balance worth it. The fun factor of playing helps them to keep going even though the money isn't all that good.
In the other town their promotional materials are destroyed consistently, before the concerts even start, and attendance is low accordingly. The powerful city council is paying a posse from the public coffers, to tear down every poster and trash every flyer, because they don't feel rock music is worthy of their town's attention. The mayor says, this policy will bring symphony orchestras to town, for a bright future of classical music.
How many rock concerts will be held in that second town? And for that matter, how many symphonies played? I wager, they will be left with the town's own high school band at best.
I think curating is slightly more appealing now.
The problem is, you won't have much to curate.
Quick: How many top Youtubers has Steem managed to attract in the past, despite more favorable conditions and a more positive media hype? All they would have to do is, embed their already uploaded videos and take Steem as a bonus. And still, it's incredibly hard to onboard them!
What do you think happens every time a Steemian is disappointed for whatever reason and leaves? What kind of reputation does Steem get in other social media? How do you think the negative vibe of massive downvoting will play there?