What does the 'x' stand for? Extra? Extreme? Exclusive? Expensive?
I believe these are expensive nodes (xNodes) that will be somewhat similar to 'Masternodes' of Dash.
Well indeed the mn will be a little bit expensive but for those who can't afford one still can stake the coins (25% / year is a good payout). About the amount was voted 25 million espers, but when the community voted the price of 1 ESP was 1/2 satoshi. Another thing 25 million / mn won but there was people who voted 50 and 100 million also. About the xNodes well... first was ixNodes ( for Inteligent TX Nodes, but I simplified it to just xnodes).
dash mn = 172000 $ / mn , esp is 9300 $