The payouts are the same today as they have always been. The click payouts have various factors revolving around them. If you have a very good keyword domain, that is product/service related with a high search volume, high n° of PPC advertisers, you can expect much more (especially if your domain/site ranks on the top 2 pages of G or Y) than if you own a lower-quality extension, with poor/non-relevant keywords, low search volume, low n° of PPC advertisers etc. I have had developed a few minisites over the past few days (see signature). I'll update with traffic+adsense earnings very soon. All of these will be on Google Page 1 or 2 within a month or so. They should do well as they are highly searched terms. This is the key when it comes to adsense - developping highly searched keyword domains with lots of PPC advertisers.
good story.. would love to see more money making stories.. sometimes, it's really weird to see that you have a MMO site and complaining about not making money LOL. for me, I am happy with adsense and it continues to grow as long as I keep my content fresh and unique, as well as updating regularly..