Of course, we are getting into semantics here, but for me you are by definition a delegated curation guild. A very different type of guild, sure, but the same model applies. I'd call it an individual curation guild. You could call it whatever you want - but you have a whale and several other accounts following you trail. You get paid both by curation rewards and by author rewards from votes on this trail. You could just as well choose to not self-upvote your posts - the trail wouldn't follow. Don't do that, by the way! You should definitely get the rewards for your work. It's a free market.
I recognize your criticism of Steem Guild, but that's purely a matter of magnitude.
I will reiterate that it is not the same model, for the reasons explained previously. The stated goals are different, the delegated power is different, the procedures and criteria are different, and the results are different.
Yes, there is a difference in magnitude, but this is practically irrelevant. The differences in the above-mentioned factors are what separates what I do and what guilds do. The fact that people receive a larger payout than my single vote is literally the only similarity between me and the existing guilds.
If Tombstone was not part of my trail, that would not change my curation habits. But I would venture to guess that if the members of Curie or Steem Guild had no whale backing, I doubt that they would be curating as they do now with the guild and its guidelines. Their voting habits would likely be different - or they simply would not exist. And this is due to the fact that the purpose of their existence is entirely different from mine and functions in an entirely different manner.
It's much more than a matter of magnitude, as I explained in the post. There are many reasons for me to be against what they're doing, and some of those reasons haven't even been fully explained, due to the length of the post as it stands now.
I don't think he should not self-upvote. That said, IMO it would be a really good thing if streemian had an option to exclude vote following for self upvotes.