My hashrate has been stable (it varies more by the hour than 512 diff, however, averaged across the day, is very accurate), my rejects low, and payout better than what Coinwarz calculates again, so I'm going to let H2O continue to do what he does best. Reading page after page of this (mostly) crap isn't worth his time... not surprised he removed this thread from the MiddleCoin site.
1024 Difficulty doesn't pose any problems unless your config is wrong, or you are a slow miner and getting really unlucky with your shares. What it has done is reduce server load and bring about better stability. I've been getting around 0.013 BTC per MH/s the past two days after making sure my config is correct, which I'll gladly take.
If you are having trouble with the pool then try another and see if the problem is with your equipment or the pool. If your settings work fine on another pool, however, not here, you are still probably still doing something wrong (with regard to 1024 diff), or using the wrong server. Depending on your latency, you will have to find out which works best for you. If you have multiple rigs, set them to different servers for a few days and compare payouts per MH/s (or KH/s)
Also, though it should be obvious, most of us are here for the money... if that means crushing a (probably junk anyway) coin or two then I think most of us are fine with that. There are already WAY too many terrible coins out there, and having so many threatens the legitimacy of the few that have proven (through popular acceptance/great dev teams/solid marketing) that they deserve to be here. If we can kill off junk coins and make money on it, I think that's a bonus. Many serious miners have invested 10k or more in mining equipment - they want an ROI above all else
Excellent points, all.