I do not think the issue lies with the projects but rather the "Overseers" of BOINC development. It is quite obvious that there is a concerted effort to rein in the renegade projects with the free flowing credits. Bottom line for me is that when the BOINC devs fully implement the anemic credit schema, then that is the day I stop crunching. To geld the competitive aspect of this hobby is to remove all reason to spend what I have (not to mention some of the crap I had to go through to make it happen). And just as importantly all the hardware donations that many of us have received through this team would NEVER have happened if not for the competitive nature of this hobby.