I think it will give us a good opportunity to make great profits! I also pray for the project. good luck and go head bro!

The price is already $300. $500 is easy to achieve.

Bitstamp officially launches Ethereum (ETH) A quick update from Bitstamp, the digital asset exchange and largest Bitcoin exchange in the EU has officially announced the live launch of trading support for ETH/BTC, ETH/USD and ETH/EUR.
Bitstamp’s decision to add ether to its platform came in response to strong demand from its customers and the rest of the cryptocurrency community.
https://t.co/kKCA9QOuTp

Ethereum is not dependent on these ICO's and is being experimented for various purposes by third parties about which we hear timely. I think in the long run only Bitcoin and Ethereum will be survivor and on leading position like they are doing till now. I also have all my funds in these two which are for long term. Ethereum has gotten recognition and is advancing in right direction.

Ethereum Announces Metropolis Hard Fork Coming Late September
https://cointelegraph.com/news/ethereum-announces-metropolis-hard-fork-coming-late-september

The new hard fork should enable some significant upgrades.

First, increasing anonymity will come with new ‘zk-SNARKs,’ or Zero-knowledge proofs. Users will be able to perform anonymous transactions at higher levels than in the past.

Second, programming and smart contracts will be made far easier with the new upgrade, relieving some of the pressure on current programmers. Gas will also be adjusted for bill settling.

Third, masking for security enthusiasts will allow users to determine the address for which they have a private key. This will increase security on the network, even against quantum computer hacking.

Finally, the upgrade includes a ‘Difficulty-Bomb’ intended to make mining exponentially more difficult.

The bomb is designed to be an intermediate step in the transition from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS) on the network. This has often been referred to as the ‘Ethereum Ice Age.’  

Read this and you will get a lot of information. https://steemit.com/ethereum/@joshbreslauer/ethereum-metropolis-upgrade-in-late-september
But i believe that will be happening in the future because the ethereum will try to make a transition about Pow to be the Pos system, and that already mentioned the miner will be decreasing 40%.

is it too late to say luck?

Ethereum Wallet Tutorial, Plus News About Metropolis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo0-B1AuM0o

Mandatory? I thought in the decentralized world things are voluntary.

A better phrase would be "necessary" if the so called new features are indeed good and improve on the other things.

But nobody is holding a gun at people's heads and forcing them to do anything. This is a voluntary world, free of coercion.