I like a challenge as well. When I was using @smartsteem it was all a test to see if I could manipulate curation... you totally can, but then they started cracking down and leeching more tax so I gave up.

One you reached a certain tipping point, it became easier and easier to make money and less and less fun to play.

I played a game... I can't remember it let me look it up...

Indeed! It was called Pharaoh and it was an Egyptian Simcity game. It was only fun when you didn't know if you'd make it. The last half (or more) of every level was grinding out an objective after you became self-sufficient. Racing the import/export overhead was the fun part. You could do things like pay your workers less but that would reduce their morale and possibly cause other problems.

As far as buying votes is concerned, it's totally not worth it most of the time. You'll lose money. The trending tab has been sold out. All the big accounts don't take it seriously anymore because everyone with stake knows exactly how much of a joke it is.