Decisions worth making are never easy, but you have to make them sooner rather than later, for your own sanity first and foremost. It is, of course, your decision to make, but I hope you don't mind if I add my interpretation of your post.
Based on the content and tone of your post, it seems to me that you are very frustrated with the status quo, and your objectives are simply not met with said status quo. I would think you should be leaning heavily towards a fork. Of course, a fork is difficult, and will require coordination with other witnesses, but if you are as serious about blockchain innovation as I think you are, you need to make it happen with like minded people. What do you stand to lose? Maybe rewards in the short term, unless the fork ends up worse than Steem - but even so, you'll know that you tried. Right now, it's just an endless abyss of frustration, don't give in to the sunk cost fallacy. So, it comes down to - does the stability of current rewards matter to you more than your penchant for blockchain innovation?
Clarification: Before someone accuses me of shilling for a fork, I don't care for or support a fork. I have made a statement committing to not support a fork, and I stand by it. That doesn't mean I can't understand and appreciate contrary views on the matter.
LOL, I don't blame you one bit for this disclaimer. So here's a disclaimer of my own:
I am not supporting a fork by saying any of this. I enjoy solving problems, and exploring ideas that may lead to better solutions.
Frustrated at this point almost feels like an understatement.
When it comes down to actually creating a competing project, I think my preference would be to go far beyond just a simple fork. Discussions in all of this never actually got far enough for me to express that idea, but I don't think long term I'd simply want to just fork Steem and improve upon it.
The hard truth at this point is that the Steem codebase isn't ideal at this point. If you look at most other variations of Steem, they've all had to solve a lot of "round peg, square hole" type of problems due to the rigid way it was setup. Some have made due, while I believe others have migrated completely off the Steem codebase (or plan to). It's been interesting to watch as developers attempt to adapt the Steem codebase for various purposes and the struggles they've run into.
Truthfully if I were planning on creating a competing platform to Steem, I'd probably either start from scratch or adapt it from a different platform, one which offers more flexibility. Steem could probably have been a lot more modern if it weren't for the whole "product over platform" approach that's unfolded over the years.
Innovation matters way more than the rewards, which is exactly the reason I've considered outright quitting. I still put a decent amount of time into Steem at this point, and it doesn't help scratch that itch. I do have a certain fondness for both community and content software though, so there's a part of me that really wants to see it succeed. I think that's what makes it hardest to leave. I know there's potential in a system like Steem, whether it's Steem or not though is what remains to be seen.
@jesta !
IF you want to migrate this community to another BC, I think you could do it. You have garnered the respect of many, and have learned so much in the recent years. I do believe if correctly airdropped and distributed over a long period of time, this community could have the best dapps and biggest rewards, and truly redefine the internet. Unfortunately, the current skewed distributions of Steem are not what @dan had in mind certainly, and also dont work well with DPOS.
Form a DAC, list 20 reasons how a community based BC will have much more fair and inclusive participation, the role of bots defined or at least limited, etc.
For the community, owned by the community.
Thanking all the progenitors that came before it for the leg up!
It could also be FAR MORE SIMPLE to understand for users if simplified at it's core. Ned has always been operating his laboratory more than selling a product... so for example, SBD gone would help.