Steem has gaming built in as you can 'win' rewards and improve your rep, but this has been distorted by vote buying. I see people get a high rep just based on the votes they paid for and so it means less than it should.
Whether people stick around depends on whether they enjoy the experience and if they think it has a future. The money aspect shouldn't matter so much if you treat it like all those platforms that pay you nothing. We don't even have to put up with annoying ads. Steem can be great if you find the right people to hang out with and I hope more of those will join up.
RE: Is gamification the answer to Steem problems? Initial thoughts after watching hours of talks about gamification.