I'm looking into the idea of setting up a few different Masternodes, Supernodes, etc. I'm curious if there are any other benefits besides monetary ones. For example, by running a masternode do I have access to data that I couldn't get otherwise? How do those benefits compare to running a regular node? Please help me out, and feel free to offer advice as to which nodes I should set up.
Depending on the coin you will be able to vote on proposals that are in the works to better the coin or bring usage to the protocol, for example:
https://www.dashcentral.org/budget
With Dash its very competitive and there are always proposals in the works, same thing with other coins out there. Most masternode coins now days have a governance system/treasury system coded into their distribution.
You will know about confirmed proposals ahead of time, it could be anything from marketing to proposals where they airdrop the extra coins to masternode owners. Its a pretty interesting system, if I was you I would choose a masternode coin that has a % of the block reward going to the treasury for the masternode owners to vote on what happens to it.