Lately, I've been watching Layer 2 projects argue over TPS, fees, and subsidies—it's lively, but I've actually lowered my expectations: don't worry about how big the hype is, just focus on whether you can trust it.

To quickly gauge credibility as a newcomer, I look at three things: whether GitHub updates are ongoing, whether there are reviews (I'm wary of projects that submit a bunch of code overnight with no one reviewing); don't just look at audit reports for "pass/no major issues," but check the risk items and "unresolved/known limitations"; and for multi-signature upgrades, who can sign, what the thresholds are, whether there's a timelock— the clearer this is, the more confident I feel.
Honestly, subsidies can buy TVL, but they can't buy time and discipline...
I use this set of criteria to filter, avoid impulsiveness, keep my drawdowns small, and sleep well.