[mindcrime]

I can't find any reference to something like "combine the scores of new submissions of the same URL to the first submission's score" though. I guess that's either new information or incorrect.

I think that falls into the "noticed through observation" bucket. I'm relatively sure that it is correct, as I've noticed that behavior myself. But, I have no official standing here and I could be totally wrong. But that sure seems to be what happens in my experience.

[tpmx]

So you may have misunderstood your observations, just like I maybe did.

[mindcrime]

That's absolutely possible. This particular pattern has seemed pretty consistent over the years, but unless somebody from the HN admin crew chimes in, I guess we'll never be 100% sure.