Yeah I use bidbots but basically just look at someone else's wallet and see what they are doing and copy them. I don't really keep up with which ones give the best votes or how they actually work.

I'm in the same camp as you. I enjoy creating content and interacting with people and sometimes Steemit feels more like you need to know all the inner workings and "play the game" for lack of a better word. I'd rather spend my time creating content than gaming the system but it seems that knowing the system is actually how you get ahead