I was thinking the same thing as well — It would be sheer insanity if the devs/witnesses intentionally switched on "pay-to-play" greedy mode in an effort to sink smaller accounts or convert them to investors. ESPECIALLY at the bottom of a bear market and with competition (albeit mostly shoddy knockoffs with stupid names ☺) on the rise!
To everyone undergoing full-on panic, please give the big fish more credit, they may be heavily influenced by greed... but they're not going to kill their golden goose. The safer, sustainable and reasonable path to riches would be to help minnows and plankton FLOURISH!
RE: Thoughts on the idea of Pay to Play Steem