[RiderOfGiraffes]

The new system can easily be "gamed," as has been discussed already several times. Here's a specific example. I wanted to observe the irony that PG's definitive answer is now below the fold, but I wanted my comment to be "above the fold" so that people could find PG's comment. Realising that if I simply commented in the appropriate place - as a reply to the original submission, as I have done with this comment - then my comment would repidly disappear even further below the fold, I added it as a reply to the unshakeably top reply:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2119471

Thus my comment is technically mis-placed, but guaranteed to be on the first page of replies and discussion.

There has to be a better solution to the problem of load. It depends on the cause, of course, but in the absence of profiling information (always the first step) I would investigate more cacheing to make the system less dynamic.

ADDED IN EDIT: I love the way this comment has attracted down-votes - I've been watching it bounce up and down for a bit now. It's clearly alright to discuss the merits and otherwise, but for some people, clearly not alright to demonstrate the effect. On a forum for hackers, I find that delightful!

[edanm]

You know, this isn't a problem specific to the new system. It's always been better, karma-gaining wise, to reply to a high-scoring comment, instead of adding a brand new reply. This just makes that (annoying) behavior even more impactful.