[Ealasaide]

Thank you for your prompt response and explanation, Barrow-Wight. I did not mean to imply that I thought the reputation system was a negative or oppressive thing as a whole. As I said in my first post, I believe that most people do enjoy it. I, too enjoy the immediate feedback aspect of it. I just don't care for the idea of point accumulation, as, whether anyone cares to admit it or not, it does lend an aura of competition to posting. Being in the vast minority in my opinion, i.e. not liking the point aspect of it, I had no expectation of or even intention of suggesting that it be stopped for everyone.

Now that you have explained that giving folks the option of not participating would skew the calculations for others, I understand why that option is not offered. That is all I wanted to know.

(Later - Edited for clarity as I wrote this post intially at work & was interrupted just as I went to place it on the thread.)