Thing is that being one of those getting in the way of bad behavior is not rewarding nor favorable.

That's why it's crucial to address this issue, because discouraging a bad behavior must be rewarded and looked favorable. I guess that lots of other users are tired to look elsewhere to avoid drama and/or retalation.

And that's also why there should be public and generally approved guidelines, because none likes to be downvoted without knowing the reason, while most (reasonable) people understand a downvote if the downvoter shows them that there's a reason (which can be checked and it's not someone's very personal opinion).

We might even use something like the proposal system to write some guidelines and have them approved by the stakeholders: if they get above the return proposal, that would be the proof that the community approves them. If they don't get there, that means that they should be changed to meet the expectations of the community.

Maybe there are even better solutions, but right now it's very easy for a lot of people to ignore Hive-etiquette, as it isn't officially written anywhere. It's also easy to get angry and make a lot of drama, because downvotes can easily "feel" personal if none can point the downvoted author to something written and approved by the community clearly saying that he/she shouldn't be doing something.

Also, to avoid retalation and/or people feeling uncomfortable downvoting someone - I know what downvotes really mean, yet I admit I would still feel "bad" for downvoting someone: maybe "downvote" was a poor choice as a name or maybe we all tend to link that action to a dislike - someone could create an account whose purpose is exactly doing that: not nuking to zero rewards or acting like a sort of police (we already have that), but acting like a curation account.

You self-upvote? You might get a downvote equal to your own upvote. You vote-trade? Same as above: you get a downvote that counters that action. You are clearly splitting an event/argument in 20 short posts to reap 20 times the rewards? You might get a downvote to remember you that this is discouraged on Hive. Of course only if this actions are considered "wrong" by the community, not only by me and 3 others.

Why should I spend more time protecting the reward pool if there is nothing but drama and a bad reputation to gain from it even if uncalled for?

You are right and that's why this is a "battle" that should be fighted by the community as a whole, not by some lonely brave users who "sacrifice" themselves for a greater good.

yeah, I know that "battle" and "sacrifice" are a bit excessive, but I couldn't find a better away to express myself 😅