I've been hearing these things for years. Back at the beginning some people made thousands on a post, but the rewards calculation has changed since then. There will be many different reasons why some make more than others. It is a lot about who you know and I expect that deals get done.

You can't easily control how people vote and automatic votes will probably not go away. I would encourage people to vote manually and not delegate all their HP, but many don't want to spend the time on it. Posts can have a maximum rewards, but that is set by the poster and not all front ends support setting it.

I think downvotes have a place and people will use them as they want. People like smooth tend to just take some of the rewards off. You can't really say what a post is worth though. I don't usually make enough to get noticed :)

Hive is imperfect, but it is doing amazing things. The freedom means you cannot control it all and some will not obey 'rules' set by others. We can still discuss these things though.