This is a great topic and post. I like Ocean, and have spent a lot of time talking with their team.

The reality is they are a new mining pool and have a lot to prove. Luke has experience running a pool in the past, which gives it a bit more credibility, as well as some of the people involved. I have known Bitcoin Mechanic for years and appreciate him.

Kaboomracks has some hashrate with Ocean right now.

The reality is that mining pools are not very transparent and Ocean is offering something very different than everyone else in the industry and I find that really interesting. There is a possibility as we go into the halving that some FPPS pools have financial issues based on their payout model. FPPS has been super popular in the bear market because of having variable rewards can be problematic for larger miners with bigger bills.

I think different pools will be more valuable to different miners depending on their offerings, and it's important for miners to evaluate their needs.

My favorite part about Ocean as well as no need to sign up. I wish that was more of a standard.