I believe it honestly comes down to self-motivation and willpower. Those who come and don't have instant success and then bitch and whine and complain about how it's a "scam" or "you have to be well-known" are just they type of people we don't want on steemit! I wasn't greeted by some amazing success when I first joined and I didn't quit.. You know why? Potential. Those who aren't willing to look past the fact that they weren't greeted with (or even a month or so down the road still haven't had any) instant success, don't have faith in it's potential. They aren't willing to truly put in an effort and produce quality content and not make it about the money. Steemit should be looked at as a community first and an outlet for possible financial success secondly, not vice-versa. As time goes on though, even those who are complaining and crying about not receiving thousand dollar payouts for their post of a meme (or other various, useless posts) will start to even see their posts become more valuable (even when they aren't really, to the masses), as more and more people who are like-minded to them will join and stay. One of the biggest issues with the steemit users who get discouraged, is them! Patience is a virtue and steemit is the type of place that, with a continued persistence and will to continue providing content, you will get noticed and you will be appreciated for your work by those who find it interesting/worthwhile.
Just my thoughts on the matter. I don't believe anything is wrong with steemit, in fact, it's only gotten better as time has gone on. :)