Michael Goetz, some people also just crunch to a milestone and quit or move on. I for example have a goal for a minimum of 1 million BOINC points at each BOINC project. I also tend to be a go to source for my team mates and utilize that goal to gather information for helping the others. However, there are and have been other projects to use run time for badges. Currently, WUProp does it. In the past OProject had the ALX application which was based on run time. WCG also has a badge based on total number of active recruits you bring to the project. Other projects even give badges based on the results you find like Amicable Numbers. Then you have CSG that not only has point badges but also badges for classifying videos and tweets that don't result into points.

I like that WCG is different. I also don't take my rigs off of here because they score better points at a project like PrimeGrid. I move them for other goals like challenges or stress testing or learning. However, I always give WCG time on my systems. I also don't upgrade to the top of the line systems often like some of the others you speak of. It is a huge waste of money for a small return like points. Many people still run older systems because they are good enough. And that is the majority of the DC'ers out there. So, the people you are "encouraging" to upgrade may be bringing you a wealth of free resources, but they are also the minority of DC'ers. I have actually pulled rigs off of PrimeGrid and thus reducing the results they get because they wouldn't complete in time for the challenges. Once the badges get to a certain level those rigs have no reason to keep running since it takes too long to bump up to the next one. However, those slower weaker rigs contribute just fine here. and are appreciated by the project which is proven by the badge crediting.

I don't know. I think if anything there is incentive to put as many threads as possible on WCG projects including devices without much computing power. Running tasks on slower devices might otherwise be seen as not worth the effort. Every thread is potential one day's work. The more threads, the faster the progression. I came to WCG because I was hoping to participate in some way in medical research particularly cancer. I wasn't even aware of the badges for quite a while. I think it's great that people without the best computers out there can still get a little recognition in the form of a badge for contributing to these projects.

There is yet another aspect of basing badges on CPU time - as, for me, who's wishing to contribute my resources equally across all the projects, can do so - as 'Results Returned' or 'Points Generated' can vary between projects.

Case in point - see below for a snapshot of my results. Now, initially when I first started out, my goal was 90 days across all projects - although that's been increased as/when my resources have improved (now, 2 years/project - although that'll soon need revising as that goal is within reach).

Project				Points		Results		Total 
				Generated	Returned	Run Time
							 	(y:d:h:m:s)

OpenZika			2,021,366	5,382		2:000:02:20:30	
Help Stop TB			2,104,462	1,175		2:000:02:25:54	
FightAIDS@Home - Phase 2	2,604,660	1,058		2:000:10:18:21	
Outsmart Ebola Together		2,208,709	7,585		2:000:00:18:15	
Mapping Cancer Markers		2,410,141	3,543		2:000:03:53:43	
FightAIDS@Home			913,008		1,753		2:000:04:13:24	
Uncovering Genome Mysteries	2,440,863	3,814		2:000:02:35:43	
Help Fight Childhood Cancer	1,950,518	2,633		2:000:04:43:48	
Help Conquer Cancer		2,073,940	6,117		2:000:01:05:55	
				
Striving for 2 years – but cut short
The Clean Energy Proj – Ph 2	1,741,964	1,508		1:224:04:51:18	
Human Proteome Folding - Ph 2	881,975		1,466		1:104:19:00:53	
Human Proteome Folding		218,269		590		1:030:12:24:14	
				
1 Year
Computing for Clean Water	606,168		1,629		1:000:05:36:15	
Discovering Dengue - Phase 2	933,978		2,319		1:000:02:03:07	
Help Cure Musc Dyst - Phase 2	1,040,602	1,960		1:000:03:19:59	

Striving for 1 year – but cut short
Say No to Schistosoma		433,725		2,037		0:204:16:05:10	
GO Fight Against Malaria	602,663		801		0:245:03:52:26	
Drug Search for Leishmaniasis	583,114		605		0:270:02:56:17	

½ Year
Computing for Sustainable Water	244,758		1,830		0:180:08:33:23	

90 Days
Influenza Antiviral Drug Search	203,761		343		0:090:03:27:32	
The Clean Energy Project	196,195		216		0:090:10:53:31	
Nutritious Rice for the World	170,829		237		0:090:18:12:29	
Discovering Dengue Drugs	197,201		425		0:090:18:19:12

So, take FightAIDS@Home vs. FightAIDS@Home - Phase 2 as an example. The former has generated 913,008 points by crunching through 1,753 WU's, whilst the latter has generated 2,604,660 points on 1,058 WU's - yet, there's just over 6 hrs difference in contribution between the two. Hence, as far as I'm concerned, my resources have contributed equally to both projects. Likewise, to the other 7 projects (soon to be 9) that'll have reached 2 years contribution.

I don't know how many WCG members are also participating to other projects (it could be an interesting information).
On my side, I participate to WCG only and I use the granted points for monitoring purpose.
My concern is less "time vs. points" but much more related to the strong variability of performance indicators between the WCG sciences, since I am still not sure if there is real efficiency troubles of some sciences or only a point calculation problem.
Cheers,
Yves

I only wish for more $$ so I could expand my small farm.

All mine are in my 10 x 18 man cave.