There are 2 mechanisms working at the same time. 1 of them is the reversed-auction you mentioned, which means that the first 1800 seconds after publication every second your potential curation reward grows by 1/1800th.
The second mechanism i mentioned makes sure that not everyone can just wait for 30 minutes to get maximum rewards.
I'm 99% certain this is the current implementation. If you have any proof to the contrary i would love to see it :)
@transisto I wrote a huge article about curation rewards to finally clear up all confusion about curation rewards for everyone. It's a long read but it's a complicated concept :)
There are 2 mechanisms working at the same time. 1 of them is the reversed-auction you mentioned, which means that the first 1800 seconds after publication every second your potential curation reward grows by 1/1800th.
The second mechanism i mentioned makes sure that not everyone can just wait for 30 minutes to get maximum rewards.
I'm 99% certain this is the current implementation. If you have any proof to the contrary i would love to see it :)
summoning @pfunk @timcliff