we could also make cross-clan competitions and statistics and reasons to keep clans smaller, keeping the competition alive keeps steemit alive.

Thanks for your work Tim.
IMO, it's a mixed bag.
Some groups automatically upvote one another. Other guilds make an effort to really curate well and effectively.
Anyone paying attention to Curie knows that the articles get read, at least twice, plus they have to meet minimum criteria. They're submitted by someone who has ostensibly made sure it meets the criteria and read it for content. Then it's verified and finally it's voted on.
I like using SteemVoter, but Marc noted recently that some folks haven't really been using it well. Streemian is a nice service too, as long as it's used responsibly. I wouldn't have a clue how that's going, but it's a nice service for curation groups or even if someone's working on a project where it can help.
I didn't get what exactly Ned said that was so concerning.

What about... 'The guild of extremely silly memes' or 'The esteemed guild of weed photographers'?

So called 'curation guilds' are mis-named.  Do the 'curators' actually read the posts, think about them, and evaluate the value?

I'd be surprised if they did.

I suspect that the name should be 'processing'...they process the steem-stream.  Something akin to desalination.

excellent view congratulations

Good one, @timcliff. Upvoted and resteemed.

there is also some chans (off steemit.chat) with selected users who read/post - and whales stick there too

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I honestly don't know how I feel about curation guilds, @timcliff.
I have been an organic curator since I've started.  I'm constantly hunting for new content and new people.  I also have my favorites, but I always read what I upvote and I would say that I comment on about 90+% of what I read.  
It's one thing to get 100+ votes, but I personally appreciate comments so much more.  At least there is interaction.  
Let me put it to you this way (and I may have mentioned something similar in my posts) - I'm not a hooker looking for quickies and tossed change.  I want to build relationships.  Anyone who delegates their voting power to a curator should stipulate community growth and nurturing.  In other words, leave a fucking comment and show that you care.
I have certain expectations from content creators: use headers, tags, pictures, white space, and content thoughtfully.  Cite your work.  Make your posts presentable.  Show people that you care about your content and don't just slap shit up there for the sake of posting.  ***We keep saying we want quality posts***  How about QUALITY CURATION TOO?  Upvotes are easy.  Leaving a thoughtful comment actually takes heart and consideration.  This should be a two-way street.  *Rant over*

You've got a lot of great thought put into this.

I think that every once in a while (at least) most users need the encouragement that a nice payout brings.

With the low price of steem and not so many whales, curation groups are doing a great job of helping the community in this area.

### Excellent post @timcliff.

If you reduce lock time period significantly ( say a months or two instead of 2 year)and reduce steem inflation down to 10% then the distribution of power will be much much faster, whales will be able to sell their whole stake in a couple month and there would be buyers on the other side to buy it because the inflation would be reduced. 
If this is done curation guild will quickly become obsolete.

Hi timcliff!
Please allow @steemitfaucet to be link with your post?

THANK YOU VERY MUCH

I predicted about 3 months ago that we'll see some curation guilds here really soon ) However I still hope that curation guilds are just an intermediate before proper *rShares market* will be implemented.