A masternode is a good way to earn passively, so is staking, but I prefer masternodes, as having your computer running all day isn't my thing.
Masternodes seem to have been forgotten and replaced by staking. There is no need to run a computer in staking. I guess you misunderstood staking, so all you have to do is invest and wait. That is why PoS is more preferred. PoS was created as an alternative to PoW and offers much more superiority. The more amount you have in your account, the more mining power you have compared to this PoW.
You need to have your computer online at all times when staking, so that's wrong
Masternodes seem to have been forgotten and replaced by staking..
They haven't been forgotten so much as not adopted by the average person because of how many coins you usually need to run one. Even with the cheapest masternode coins like pivx, it still requires 10,000 coins. That's out of reach for many people.
I would like it very much if I had enough money to buy a masternode. Dash would be my first choice but I know that isn't going to work anytime soon. And yes, they don't require as much time, effort, or electricity to run. It's really just a matter of having enough coins as collateral.
There are TONS of projects with masternodes, the 2 you named there are among the most popular ones, not the most profitable ones though. Blocknet yields 16% annually on their nodes, while Dash sits at 7%.
Dash would be my first choice but I know that isn't going to work anytime soon.
This is also my top choice with the acceptable amount that it can give daily as profit for the investor, this is the priority and most popular of them all. But, this would require a very expensive capital that's why many only wants it but can't avail it. And soon, I'm also thinking that it will be replaced with the emergence of staking. Ethereum is at hand for its staking and for sure there will be a bunch of investors that will be racing to get their first ever Ethereum stake.
Ethereum wont be profitable for most people to stake. Unless you own 100+ Ethereum it wont yield much. Do your own research on this, but it's not gonna yield as much as people think, otherwise the supply would grow way too quickly.