It's not that I know more than you, which may or may not be correct. But I've been here longer, answered more posts, and have been involved in more closed threads. 15 days ago I asked Dani to reduce my rep power because I thought it was just excessive, which she has since done.

Dani has also implemented a voting system where everyone has just one vote per post. My vote counts no more or less than yours. When I give someone rep I also cast one vote. But I can vote without giving rep.

Every point that you've made has been taken into consideration recently, and changes have recently been implemented to combat the issues.

> And then there's the issue of High rep users being scared to vote because they have so much influence...
The algorithm which affects how much rep power people have was changed so that this is no longer a problem. Even regular members can now give positive or negative rep without severely affecting someone else's rep nearly as much as they used to.

> If you've been part of the site longer, you're opinion matters more than everybody else's? Why?
Because the system is called "reputation" ... And just like reputation in a real world community, your reputation is a reflection of what the most influential people in the community think of you.

But that's why we have other statistics in place as well. Such as the new voting system where everyone's vote counts equally as one point either up or down. And the solved thread statistic.

Of course, no online system like this is going to be completely impartial, and they all will have their flaws. But the idea is that by taking all of these different statistics into consideration, someone can make an educated overall judgement about the overall quality (or lack thereof) of the member.

The reputation system is completely optional. But, by participating in discussion in our forums you are eligible to receive positive and negative reputation points from other users. When a new user first starts out, their reputation does not count. When the user starts earning rep points, they can give out rep points, but the neutral ones they gave out at first will not change. They will still have zero value.Reputation should be given to people who post meaningful, helpful, and thoughtful posts. Any post that contributes to the thread in a positive way probably deserves positive reputation.