One thing that's pretty discouraging is when we go out of our way to place something onto trending even after all the disincentives I mentioned above and some accounts downvote the post due to disagreement of rewards or another unknown reason as it feels like a slap in the face and another disincentive to our already weak returns for having attempted to make trending look better.

This! It is also discouraging for the author especially if he/she's new to Steem. Good thing I've gone past the emotion and wouldn't mind the downvote even if I don't deserve it.

I can just imagine the frustration of the author because I had the same feeling when I was downvoted for the first time. Creating content takes time and conscious effort. I'm not posting everyday because I can't even if I wanted to. My posts would take two days at minimum. And then someone just downvote it for no apparent reason. That's sad.

But who am I to question the downvoter's judgment? Maybe I'll just stick to what I do best - create content. I'll just leave all the politics and how things work to those who are good at it.

I know eventually those who are playing God complex will have their own time. Or maybe they had it already. They're just becoming desperate.