Rep is only an illusion to feel self-security. By getting good feedback from members, one feels wanted. Just because one has a bunch of pips, he/she feels loved. Oh yes, you - Dyne - should know what I'm taking about. It's the same reason you make banners for other newbies in bulk. You want your influence spread, and you enjoy pleasing others with your talents (not necessarily a bad thing).
Trying to give the excuse that rep is a way of telling people they are "dumbasses" is ridiculous, in my opinion. It's much more public and impossible to hide one's identity if the person plainly state his/her opinion on the board rather than docking the other on reputation.
It's impossible for reputation to be abused, according to what you feel is the system's purpose, Dyne. It can only be abused if the system is a way to make elitist members feel self-secure. In that sense, members of almost no value can lower another's to near nill for little reason, and inflict severe emotional pain (as seen by GameMaster and Dylflon). However, if the system's purpose was merely for one member to tell another that he/she did something wrong... then no-one should care how many pips he/she has, as it would mean absolutely nothing. That's not the case though...
I don't care if reputation stays or goes, but I realize that it does not promote intelligence. I've seen fairly intelligent people become immature and have mini emotional breakdowns, therefor lowering their true reputation in my eyes. Reputation is more than a few pips, it's how much the crowd likes you. Reputation can never be measured accurately in a freakin' gaming forum!
Still fun to screw with though.
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