I think the flags will bring in a lot more risk for buyers, and while the bidbots in theory could get more, they need buyers that won't get flagged into loss territory so they can keep buying. This means that they will likely lower the bids to suit but then they need more buyers and posts, to vote on and they would likely get flagged a bit too. At some point, it will close the gap toward curation offering a more stable ROI than selling.

Speculation, but I think that if people flag well enough, the randomization of rewards is much like what you talk about with the unpredictable vote values.

At the very least, I think the changes are going to force a lot of reconsideration by pretty much all maximizer users and, will likely result in a lot more interaction, some of it will be very drama-filled.