I do think the madness is a cool idea and fun but it does create some perverse incentives and I think because it only pays the top 64 stackers that it is great for current stacker engagement but not so great at enticing new users.
I agree. I've proposed layering different rewards timeframes: i.e. split the rewards pool between daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly rewards.
kr indicated there was some interest in trying something like that.
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I think it's a good idea. A one-week minimum period seems balanced to me. The method you proposed is fair and rewards all stackers in a balanced way, whether they spend more or less time. Overall, the rewards are proportional to the time that stackers spend on Stacker News.
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I like doing this every March as March madness but maybe only half the rewards should be accumulated and the rest go out daily.
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