You make a lot of sense here. I have personally experienced a drop in activity since hf19. And I can't help noticing my peers buy their whale votes in order to make it worthwhile. I have also noticed the plethora of services offered to buy influence. It is the same story over again, the rich get richer and the poor stay poor. The increased "influence" noobs was supposed to get with hf19 is a short lived one. The votes cast in one session quickly drains the power to such a degree it is pointless.
What is needed is more influence from day one and less influence to those who can be described as gods under the current conditions.
I'm not complaining on my own behalf, but the long term growth will die off without motivated recruits. And if I don't see a real incentive for noobs to join, I'll be gone before everything stagnates.