When the N value goes up the amount of hash goes down by ~ 50%. That's why people aren't seeing the hash rate they WERE mining with a few weeks ago.
In my opinion the N value went up way too fast too soon. We should be a year from now or so at todays N value (1024).
On the bright side not many coins are being made now which should make the price go higher.
Agreed. The N value is ridiculous at this time point, the coin is still a baby.
Keep in mind that as N goes up, the amount of decrease everyone gets is equal. For example:
Let's say N = 1
Person with 50 hash/s earns 50 coins a day
Person with 25 hash/s earns 25 coins a day
Their ratio is 50:25 or 2:1
Now N jumps to 2
Person with 50 hash/s is now at 25 hash/s and earns 25 coins a day
Person with 25 hash/s is now at 12.5 hash/s and earns 12.5 coins a day
Their ratio is 25:12.5 or 2:1
In other words, after 500 days and N is now 500 and they are getting 0.00001 hash/s, the ratio will still be 2:1. Meaning that it's still really the same.
This is why I believe the N value increasing isn't an issue. Unless someone can shed light on where the mathematics would be wrong? The way I see it, if I earn half what you do, it doesn't matter if I earned 1 coin or 1 million coins; either way I still have half the value of you.