I was speaking in financial aspects. Running at a loss makes it difficult for anyone outside the top 19 to continue to support the network, hence why we see a list of under 100 witnesses globally... with @gtg assessment, there is only 20... There was more witnesses before...
But if you believe in the platform and want to support the network and learn and all that to see in that value then yes it's very worth it.
As someone who's been a witness for months with varying degrees of success along the way I can safely say at current STEEM prices you only need to be ranked around #40 on the witness list if you were aiming to break even using a minimum requirements server.
It all depends on what you're using for servers really.
When you add the seed node, a main and backup witness server it can get costly all depending on how much you're paying per box.
That was with the old economic model... The current made it difficult which is why we seen a lot of witnesses shutdown. but yes with current steem prices you're right.
I get what you're saying but not everyone is aware of the information on how to reduce server costs, I wasn't. I know it's a competition too but there's more to being a witness than running nodes right? :)
The primary function of the witness is to ensure their witness server is operational and able to produce a block when it's called to do so.
Everything else is a bonus and we have a number of individuals that serve as witness that bring different skills and talents to the table.
If you're not aware nor willing to do the research into how to minimize server costs when running a STEEM witness that is fine, but fundamentally the witness payout is acceptable compensation and anyone wishing to become a witness can do so given enough ambition.
It's not expensive by any means to set up a seed node and witness server. In fact I'd go as far to say that anyone who's got a job or making income on their skillset can afford to do so.
You don't need a backup witness server until you get up into the top #50 list in my opinion anyways. So depending on what type of security you need for your servers for less than a case of beer a month you could run a witness server in theory.
@klye you know how much I spent before I figured this out? lol Ah but it's not about the money, it's about the information :)