Well, no whales enjoy a prolonged battle against someone even with only 1/3 of their stake. Once significant enough, it would be a pain without other whales, etc. support. Saw that happen with the recent flag skirmishes.

But yes, Steem is a hobby to a lot of us who are actually flagging. People take their payouts too seriously. I'd prefer it more if upvotes and downvotes happened frequently just like on Reddit.

As for underlying changes, I'm no dev, so I don't care. Places like China are already banning people from accessing frontends. I think regulation will eventually creep into the space whether we like it or not.

In addition, if Blocktrades' proposal of rerouting 20% author rewards go through, it would make it easier to flag down people. Unfortunately, who knows if that money doesn't end in his pocket. lol