How do pools handle minting fee changes

[TierNolan]

I realize that it only happens once every 2 years. 

With a pay per last N shares system, there is a discontinuity when the minting fee changes.

If you submit a share for a 25 BTC block from just before the change, you are paid out by a 12.5BTC block.

To keep it fair, shares after the discontinuity should be worth half as much as before.  The has the effect of doubling N.

This means that a pool where N is 3 blocks would need to change its N to 6 blocks after the change.

Do pools do stuff like that, or is the effect mostly ignored?  It only covers a window of a few hours/days, so is probably not that big a deal.

[DannyHamilton]

I realize that it only happens once every 2 years. 

Or perhaps once every 4 years?

With a pay per last N shares system, there is a discontinuity when the minting fee changes.

If you submit a share for a 25 BTC block from just before the change, you are paid out by a 12.5BTC block.

To keep it fair, shares after the discontinuity should be worth half as much as before.  The has the effect of doubling N.

This means that a pool where N is 3 blocks would need to change its N to 6 blocks after the change.

Do pools do stuff like that, or is the effect mostly ignored?  It only covers a window of a few hours/days, so is probably not that big a deal.

Whatever the answer is today would be useless, since the pools could change the rules before the next adjustment (nearly 3 years from now).

[TierNolan]

Or perhaps once every 4 years?

Even better .

Whatever the answer is today would be useless, since the pools could change the rules before the next adjustment (nearly 3 years from now).

Right.  Pool rule changes can result in people losing money and/or their shares dropping in value.