It's true, the financial rewards are the only part of Steemit that truly sets it apart. The community is wonderful, but I think even the newbies would abandon the site if that aspect were gone. It's what drew people here in the first place, and there are many other places to keep the community going. I can imagine I'd stop by occasionally, like I do with livejournal and blogspot, but not with even an ounce of the regularity I do here. I think of this as a part-time job.