You raised an important issue here.
True, there has been an increase in the price of both steem and sbd. But in ratio, I think converting sbd to steem still gives almost the same quantity as it was. Cos both of them are increasing geometrically. I think the major problem will come if sbd price falls and steem rises above sbd. Though I do not know perfectly well how steem economics works.

I also noticed that the vote value of posts have increased with the increase in steem but there is no visible increase in the payout value.

About the Hope token, I think it will be a very potent solution for this. But we should also put the buyback policy into consideration.

PS: You made mention that some people that are supported do not make engagements. I think the bot has made it easier for the solution.
Moreover, it is not difficult to engage on posts; just have a minimum amount of posts to engage a day and by the end of the week, you have gotten your benchmark.

Thanks buddy