I'd like to offer a set of suggestions regarding random Superblocks that I think would fit well with the coin.

For those of us who work regularly with hexadecimal, it's common to hear someone refer to a 0xF character as a "Fox".  What I'd like to propose for random rewards to help increase interest and enthusiasm is the concept of "Fox Blocks".

When a new block is solved, if the first hex character of that block is F, that block is a "Fox Block", and will pay a bonus amount equal to a multiple of the block reward that would have otherwise been paid.  At a target 60 seconds per block, that would happen roughly once every 16 minutes, or about 4 times per hour.  I'd like to suggest a base multiple of 4, so if the current block reward was 240 Foxes, a base Fox Block would pay out 4*240 or 960 Foxes.

For additional interest, this can be extended... if the first TWO characters of the block are FF, that could be something like a "SuperFox block", and pay a higher multiple, like 16.  At a frequency of roughly every 256 minutes, those would show up about six times per day.  A block starting with "FFF" might be an "UltraFox block", and pay something like a multiple of 64 over the current reward.

A structure like this accomplishes multiple things:

1.  The super-block reward structure meshes nicely with the current logo for the coin... the F is important, and the vertical lines next to it create the impression of "stacking", which is how the super-block reward system works.

2.  Since people using a command-line miner can actually see the start of the address of the currently-being-worked block, they can notice when a Fox Block is about to be found, and can "root for" their miner or pool to pick up the bonus.

3.  Given that the address of the next few blocks are inherently unpredictable, this randomization strategy helps to prevent the whales from putting their hashing power elsewhere and only switching to Fox mining when they know that a superblock is set to be mined soon (as happens with the superblock strategies of "every 1000th block is a superblock").

4.  Since this doesn't interact directly with difficulty, even a solo miner or those with lower hash rates could end up finding a high-reward block in the first few seconds of mining, spiking the interest in continuing to mine even for low-powered miners.

5.  Rewards that happen irregularly (with large deviations in amount above typical) have been shown in video game studies to greatly enhance the attentional value of the player... this is the basis for the "addictiveness" of activities like this.  High attention due to taking advantage of this reward mechanic might help keep hashing power more dedicated to the coin itself.

6.  Even though the individual rewards are high in this kind of strategy on the upper tiers, the total increase in coin volume per unit time remains relatively low.  For the three tiers I outlined, the coin reward rate per unit time increases by less than 25% (24.6%)... and it's still less than 25% higher even if you add a fourth tier for FFFF at a payout of 256 times normal.

7.  The base block reward continues with its smooth downward trajectory, so we still have a clean glide-path down in base rewards, and the Fox Blocks scale themselves down in tandem, since they are even multiples of the current block reward.

8.  The finite amount of Foxcoins that will be mined can still be maintained... this simply pulls the endpoint for when that happens towards us in time.... over 280 years to see it fully mined out isn't a terribly realistic target as it stands (IMO).

9.  The tiered structure gives natural variation to the size and frequency higher rewards... 4x rewards showing up about 4 times per hour gives regular reinforcement, 16x rewards about six times per day gives a stronger reward signal six times per day or so (still frequent enough to feel like one is "right around the corner") and a large reward of 64x normal still shows up more often than every three days on average, so they aren't super-rare and feel entirely plausible.  (A FFFF tier would only show up every 45 days or so on average, so the much higher jackpot might not seem as plausible to happen any time soon.)

What do you think, sirs?

TorVek
FOX: wuVRXki63Wz7j5xG2Auod9TqGk1zkDkvc6