Then you forego the benefits of the infrastructure that guild utilizes to organize and empower itself through collective action.  

Pretty straight forward really.  It is kind of like me saying "the problem with making money is I have to work for a company...what if I dont want to work for a company?" 
Because the answer would be the same--noone is forcing you to be a member of a guild, or work for a company.  However, the majority of the population do want that.  
So while I recognize your opinions, I also recognize that it is kind of actually a nonissue.  :)

 > "I don't know. It's just a thought. I just feel like people won't want to write good content if they aren't getting a payout."

To this I would say: "they are getting a payout. nothing has changed on this front except the fact that people who focus on content areas of expertise will be able to more easily coordinate between one another to mitigate the "whale problem"."

In fact, with later phases of this solution, we could quite possibly enable new layers of economic activity that utilize coins for the guild IN ADDITION to the rewards directly earned from steem.   Hope that helps clarify.