Ive been discussing the current issues a lot with plenty of people. Stake based voting aside, the biggest problem i see now is the following.

Quality does enter the platform and Curie and OCD pick it up more often then not. But these two projects arent there to lead you along by the hand all the way. Theyr here to lift you up, get you on your way, provide an opportunity to improve what you do.
Ive seen numerous times how creators drastically improved their content after that one big curie. Everything after lifted the effort of the creator going forward and value created for the platform.
Curie did its job. After that its up to the community and the hard work of the creator to continue raising his payouts. I felt that on my skin as well.
Curie has a very specific and incredibly important spot in the ecosystem.
Whats happening after is the crap part.

The lack of quality/reward correlation, bot abuse, self voting, upvote circles. Etc.
I would wager that Curie and OCD are the most effective projects on the steem blockchain in what they do and in the value they bring.

They keep quality here. Whats happening after doesnt work well. You have that "equality for all" and "me first" way of thinking that is hurting the rise in value of the steem platforms.
Steem isnt creating creators that it can showcase to the world and say: "look! this is our guy here, he made it here".
Due to the same rewards for everyone from those that can give out rewards and due to those that care only about themselves. This creates the idea in minds of those looking from outside that steem is a place for spam and junk content which simply isnt true.
But some platforms even incentivize spam and conveyor belt content.

Curie does what it needs to. Its on the community to work on what comes after. If it wants whats best for everyone or whats best for their individual self.