Attached is another test version where the reduction in metadata fetch sleep is configurable. Keep in mind that this applies only to fanfiction.net downloads.
Code:
[www.fanfiction.net]
## fanfiction.net is blocking people more aggressively. If you
## download fewer stories less often you can likely get by with
## reducing this sleep.
slow_down_sleep_time:4
## ffnet is sensitive to too many hits. Users are sensitive to long
## waits during the initial metadata collection in the foreground.
## When used, these settings will speed up metadata downloads in the
## foreground linearly.
tweak_fg_sleep:true
min_fg_sleep:1.0
max_fg_sleep:4.0
max_fg_sleep_at_downloads: 10
UPDATE Feb 24, 2014 - Remove obsolete beta versions