Some food for thought... (Please explore and critique these ideas, they are intended for brainstorming purposes)

Assumptions:
(a) This is not intended to be a pump-and-dump or another copy-coin
(b) In order to be massively successful, the coin must improve upon multiple features of bitcoin AND litecoin

Two areas for lots of improvement:
- Energy: To my understanding, the computing power we use for mining our coins is all wasted. The only reason for the power requirements is to force scarcity and distribution. We need to find a greater purpose for the computing power, something that makes outsiders want to join the community because it is doing some good in the world. We need to include something like folding@home or analyzing DNA or something to benefit society.
- VALUE: Cryptocurrencies are currently linked very strongly to the USD/EU. Many miners simply mine the currency in order to sell it for USD. If these are ever going to have a chance at surviving, the infrastructure needs improvement. That is happening to a point, but really what we want is not 'x coins buys x dollars' but rather 'x coins buys a soda' as a way of thinking. What if the coins, as they gained value against other currencies, actually multiplied by 10's? so if its initial worth was $0.10 US, 10 coins buys a soda. If the value against the USD goes up to $1.00 per coin, everyone coins get multiplied by 10 (sort of like splitting a stock). The purpose would be to keep the purchasing power of a single coin approximately constant so that resellers can set prices in terms of our currency and not risk their prices being way off due to massive market swings like bitcoin has experienced.

Some other thoughts:
- SIZE of the blockchain: I don't know if it is possible, but i had seen earlier in this thread a mention of a blockchain that would begin to clip off earlier sections once it reached a maximum size. I don't know the feasibility but it is worth discussing. If these older blocks are needed to manage coins that have been stagnant for some time, maybe it would be possible to prune out the other transactions or migrate the coins automatically to a new set of addresses further in the chain?
- CONFIRMATIONS: What about smaller blocks so we could have more frequent rewards and faster confirmations? It would take more confirmations for the same level of security but wouldn't take any longer if I understand correctly. This could allow stores to assess their own level of needed security to begin processing an order/payment and it would make the process smoother as you don't wait as long for the first could confirmations.

Please feel free to tear this apart, but I hope there is also some constructive talk that comes out of these ideas...