It's a ludicrous idea to put 30 BTC into something to get a trickle in return but I'll guess the price rise hadn't been anticipated when it was set up.

It's really only viable for people who already have an early stack and are in it for the long run which is exactly the right demographic needed.

The whole point of the supernodes is to be the backbone of the system. You wouldn't want people who were chopping and changing all the time as they'd add nothing but instability.