Gridcoin 4.0-2018 General Roadmap Poll - Determining Magnitude

This is the description and thread for the Gridcoin 4.0-2018 General Roadmap Poll pertaining to how a user’s magnitude is calculated. You can find the Cryptocurrency Talk thread, which contains information on all polls, here. Any questions asked on this thread should relate only to this poll. Any questions on the Cryptocurrency Talk thread that are related to this poll will be relayed here and vice versa. Please, do not be afraid to ask questions. We want to make sure that everyone understands what they are voting on.

You can find the poll on Gridcoinstats here.
The poll was made by @tomasbrod with address: SFhy5MRyNqVcC2pCtEYeMSULe6wA5SPYMk.

Magnitude is the Gridcoin variable which determines a user’s Earned Research Rewards. Gridcoin currently calculates a user’s magnitude through the BOINC variable Recent Average Credit, or RAC. Total Credit Delta, or TCD, is the proposed replacement for calculating user magnitude. Instead of using RAC, magnitude would be calculated by determining the difference in a user’s credits earned on a specific project between superblocks. As with anything, there are benefits and drawbacks to a TCD system.

There are many aspects to a magnitude determination structure. Below are those we have compiled and how they manifest in each structure. It is up to the community to discuss the pros and cons of each.

Charge Time

RAC - A user must charge their RAC for an extended period whenever they start a new project or rejoin a project after an extended absence.
TCD - After the initial collection of a user’s stats, there is no charge time in TCD.

Deflation Time

RAC - When a user leaves a project, they maintain a RAC for the time required for their average to reach 0.
TCD - There is no deflation time in TCD.

BOINC Project Runs Out of WU or Otherwise Fails

RAC - So long as a project is whitelisted and a user has RAC on that project, that user will be rewarded with GRC, regardless of active work done.
TCD - A user is rewarded with GRC only if there is a difference between that user’s completed credits between superblocks.

Note - While TCD presents an improvement over RAC with regards to a project running out of work units, it is intend to and works best with a steady stream of work units.

Earnings Estimation

RAC - It is difficult to accurately estimate RAC -> Magnitude -> GRC for a user.
TCD - It is relatively simple to accurately estimate TCD -> Magnitude -> GRC for a user.

Loss of Service

RAC - When a user loses service, they continue to be rewarded with GRC based on their RAC and RAC decay time.
TCD - When a user loses service, they are not rewarded with GRC until service is restored.

Cycle to Reward Relationship

RAC - Due to using an average, the connection between RAC and actual cycles contributed to BOINC projects is indirect. The connection is rooted in the individual credit system of each project.
TCD - The relationship between TCD and actual cycles contributed to BOINC projects is more direct than RAC. The connection is rooted in the individual credit system of each project.

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"Do you think Total Credit Delta is something that should be implemented in 2018"
-Yes
-No
-No, but we should not use RAC either.
-Need more information
-Abstain