That is, indeed, part of what makes the "game" fun. I miss the old "SteemWhales" site, where you could pull all manners of rankings up, if you took a little time. Problem there (and cause of demise?) seemed to be that they built their own database a couple of times a day rather than pulling live data from the blockchain. And so, that process got cumbersomely large and tedious.
But yes, on a whole and greater scale, the whole gamification of social media is a major part of what makes it "sticky." Asher's leagues are prime example of how well it can work...
I used to like that site too (although unwieldy) and would like something somilar but more customizable and a bit prettier. From my understanding, Hivemind comes with some additional tools for BC discovery that might help developers create a nice smooth experience.
Asher deserves every penny he gets.
Yes, Asher deserves every penny he gets. I wish people would throw more support behind his and Paula's witness, maybe even get them pushed up to the top 20. With as much effort as they put in, week after week, @steemcommunity should be ranked a lot higher than 68th.
I look forward to Hivemind, but I am not holding my breath.