[feudalism]

I think the person you're replying to may have been sarcastic in their comment because all those things they mentioned do exist in some form on HN.

Without those things, HN would not have the same allure as it does now. Of course upvotes/downvotes are a core part of HN; they even have a leaderboard. At least one particular "eccentric" character tends to boast about being on it as if it's a status symbol (which it may very well be, particularly if you're frequent on HN).

One advantage with HN over reddit is that buffoonery is generally not rewarded.