The content and reward police are the worst element of Hive for sure. There are still a couple of magical whales, who know the "value" of a post based on their own worldview. :)
Debate encourages discussion, which provides more usage, but they've bought into the idea that someone needs to non-factually monitor what others think and say, as well as earnings. As I've always said, that's DPOS, and they have the right, but having the right, doesn't make it smart.
Plastic little essays with a word counter and only on allowed topics has never made anything interesting.
They are trying to bore the legs off donkeys