Sure, check "Viktor's updates" topics...now that extension have happen - we don't know how much.

But also, if some other BIG PLAYER has come to WCG, so that might lower the ECD. Which makes our previous ECD's "obsolete".

So we're completely "fling in the dark, without compass, altimeter or any kind of instrument". Which is fine for Cessna, but not great if you're "a bigger player" here & playing "get the badges game".

I read today here that there are more smartphones in use than there are people: approximately 10 billion devices, as many people own more than one. Then there are tablets and laptops and desktops...
Right now WCG has an active user base of only 44,000 active users with only 247,616 active hosts according to this website .
That is a tiny fraction of 1% of possible recruits. So low as to be almost meaningless: less than 0.0001%
Its even a tiny fraction of the almost 2 billion combined users of the games Subway Surfer and Candy Crush Saga.
But, oh, wait, I forgot, that's not a fair comparison because those games still have a fun factor that keeps people hooked, whereas WCG has none.
You don't have to be a math genius to know if we could just get 1% of people to load WCG onto their devices, that would represent several orders of magnitude increase. Long term projects would be gobbled up, crunched and finished in no time.
IMHO, the only way more people will join - and stay after their initial sign up - is to make it more attractive, rewarding, and fun, just like the above mentioned Android games.
Motivation is the key.
Motivation to help, but also motivation to stay connected and contributing, and even increase the help they want to give.
Those of us who used to watch the progress bars like hawks know what this motivation is - a satisfied feeling that we are achieving something, we are fighting the good fight, and slowly but surely winning... vanquishing cancer, zika, AIDS, and other problems. Pure adrenaline! Well, almost.
So sad that we cant do that anymore.
Even sadder that the powers that be cant see how demoralizing the "new" progress bars are, despite many crunchers stating they are considering quitting, this forum thread having over 100 comments and over 3200 views in only a few weeks. As Chase stated above:

RIP old progress bars, you motivated us well, and will not be forgotten...

Progress bars?
I hate them. I don't see any progress. What I see is

Something
Something
Something
Something
Something

I know percentages can vary a lot, but we used to be able to see which project was winding down, and assign more computer cores to that one if we were close to a badge.

I know that projects can decide to send us another pile of packets. That is OK when it happens, but this is just another thing that got dumbed down so they don't have to change it more often than every two years or so.

I guess I will just have to spread the work around in case some random project is finishing and something changes to EEK.

First, we have to get their attention.

I just completed 10 years on FAAB and have switched over to MIP1. I have shut down all the Androids and am now only crunching 20 cores now instead of 40-something. I am planning to shut down completely when I get MIP1 to 10 years. I was fun crunching here 24x7 for the past 12 years, but the fun is now gone. It will be strange having my home quiet when I go to sleep.

Cheers