Quote from: DeathAndTaxes on November 01, 2011, 10:55:41 PM

That isn't true. PPLNS is punitive unless you stay for the full N (number of shares defined by the pool). With PPLNS you acheive full value by staying longer than the N value. Short random periods of activity will net you a tiny fraction of your equitable share.

Trust me I poolhopped for 3+ months. PPLNS is punitive to pool hoppers. If you are using it as a backup pool you are essentially a dumb/blind poolhopper (you have no control over when you hop in or out).

It isn't punitive to anyone. Over time, everyone will receive an equal payout corresponding to the number of submitted shares. The only effect of being an intermittent miner (such as a pool hopper) is that your payouts will vary more (sometimes less, sometimes more). For instance, if N is equal to the difficulty, a given share will be paid a number of times with the following probabilities:

No payouts: 36.79%
1 payout: 36.79%
2 payouts: 18.39%
3 payouts: 6.13%
4 payouts: 1.53%
5 payouts: 0.31%

The probability of six or more payouts is there, but shrinking very quickly. The weighted average of the samples I gave is 0.9963 payouts per share. If I included 6 payouts and more, the average would be 1 payout per share. No matter what, on average, you will receive the same payout for your work on a PPLNS pool as you will at a PPS pool (assuming equal fees).

Yes, your shares may suddenly become worthless if more than N shares pass by without a block being found, but there is no way to predict when this will happen, and 63% of the time a share will be paid at least once.

In the case of the short bursts of activity, you will still receive your equitable share for the comparatively few shares you submitted, but because of the risk of not being paid at all, again, the variance will be higher. In those 31 out of 10000 instances when your short burst of work is paid out five times, you'll be making back what you "lost". Of course, this is all on average, and if you're looking at periods as short as a week or three, you may not feel you're getting your fair share. If variance bothers you, use a PPS pool. However, there remains no long-term mathematical reason to avoid PPLNS as a backup.

Aexoden

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