Which means before we look at how to configure karma, we need to ask exactly who we want karma to highlight.

Which brings us back to the contraversial question of 'value' again.

Karma is an odd word. Aside from its use on internet forums (where it is synonymous with 'kudos' usually) its root is a religious term focused in the concept of reaping reward. 'Karma' is the principle that you will 'be done by as you did', that 'what goes around comes around', that you will get your just desserts (for good or ill).

Somewhere in this discussion we need a conversation about what karma 'means'. The idea of 'reward' - whether in discount, attendance at events etc - is a part of karma. We cannot divorce that from the question of who we give karma to. If it's just another 'popularity contest' as it is in almost every other internet forum, then it doesn't matter a right lot how it works.