I'm not saying make the earning aspect the forefront of onboarding, but since it already exists and has improved a ton from the early days, we shouldn't make it taboo or never mention that it is possible if you put energy and time into it

You nailed it right : we shouldn't make it taboo or never mention that it is possible. It should be all spontaneous. That's the kind of apps we need on hive, that would bring people automatically. As you said, a gaming review, or a product review or services review. And a real app that is working : https://www.mouthshut.com/contest

We need something similar, and even may make it more authentic, by validating the users by their real identity and supporting their reviews by photos or videos.