2 things need to happen in my opinion. We need a major upgrade to the user interface for mass adoption. Yes we like it but it's glitter that draws in the crowds. There needs to be a name drop by a celebrity. Once Oprah mentions it then it will blow up. LOL.
I do agree that I hate that the system is gamed by bots and programs, but what platform does not have some type of scheme going?
I agree with @emmyem84. Some sort of promotional killer affiliate bonus for friends and family
that you get to join. It would motivate plankton/minnows to keep adding quality content during the slow early stages. Also there needs to be an easier way to search for media to resteem. Many that have been trained by the other platforms .ie INstagram or pinterest will find searching here for content kind of tricky. If those 2 things were upgraded... we would see a flood of new minnows...
I agree that we could use some UX improvements indeed. Gaming will probably be always there, that is true. I do hope it will become a relatively smaller problem though. We'll see.