[isostatic]

> The upvote/downvote mechanism does "gamify" the experience

A key benefit to me is that the points aren't visible to others. Up/Down voting is fine, and there's no real public benefit to the karma given to an individual post, nor any way to even see what it is. Sorting isn't based only on the post score either, and it's not in your face -- it's a much better system that slashdot in my view.

[rleigh]

I am in complete agreement that the system is better than slashdot. However, I think even being able to see your own score can be detrimental to the way you behave. Is it healthy to check back and see if your comments were well received, or generally disliked? It's less bad than the alternatives. However, I think that it will still have some effect, and it might still have some negative consequences.