I understand why @crokkon is apprehensive about asserting HF being an enhancement for the big players but my intuition is in line with yours. It seems like that the little guy is getting nerfed and whales are getting buffed. I really would like to understand the underlying rationale for this decision as it seems nonsensical to me but maybe I'm jumping the gun.

I know there had been issues with a proliferation of @steem faucet downvote accounts that may have contributed but that is speculative. They were more of a nuisance to minnows and plankton and really not a concern for whales especially the self voting variety. Even in the remote chance that was the reason, it would have been better to nerf the downvote and leave the upvote alone.

I'm still not 100% clear on all the tech details but from the impression I have gathered. I am not really a fan of HF 20 as it seems to give more power to the already powerful which IMHO is something that will encumber adoption in some sense.