I think automating the +1 system or putting in a "thanks" system is fine. Anything else starts to get a little uncomfortable (and even that could have issues).
Beyond what's already been said, I find boards with complex reputation systems, with votes up and downs, become intimidating to newcomers. This is not and should not be a "good old boys (and girls)" board, it should be a place where members new and old can discuss and, importantly, find information and clarification about Paizo's products. Coming and seeing people with massive rep scores (one way or the other) can make a new person feel hesitant about posting because he or she will just figure the post will be ignored because the newb has no reputation.
Further, sometimes I've seen a newb show up and ask a question we've seen a million times before but they don't know that, and the first thing that happens is 10 people posting, basically, "You're wrong and stupid for asking this question, go away."(Rather than, say, "This is has been discussed before. Try this (link) or this is how to use the search function. And welcome to the boards." or "This is a controversial topic, you may not find what you're looking for.") What makes this worse is how clearly proud the posters are for trolling the newb's post and making sure he or she is unwelcome. A rep system could be used to just exacerbate this kind of unnecessary behavior---and ultimately, that's not good for Paizo or Pathfinder, as it turns would-be new players and paying customers away from the door, all so someone could get his Internet bullying jollies off. Of course, newbs can sometimes be trolls too, but that's when you just ignore the post rather than respond at all.
Senior Software Developer
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Yeah, to reiterate what I said before: Do not worry about Paizo implementing a reputation system, meta moderation, karma, upvoting/downvoting or the like. We have been thinking very hard about this for a long time and are keenly aware of just what can happen with a system like that.
The main goals of any like/favorite system we build will be: do not screw up the community we already have; make it easier to find great comments; do not build something that gamers can game in a negative way; let people find stuff they like.
I should probably expand on the "gamers gaming" thing. I fully expect our community to game pretty much everything we add to the website. The key is to ensure that said gaming plays out in a direction beneficial to the site and the community. In this case I expect that people will get an ego boost by seeing that "x people liked this comment" or favorited it or whatever. Gaming that particular display means making comments that others like. I don't really see a problem with that, apart from the groupthink thing, which is going to happen anyway.
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I should probably expand on the "gamers gaming" thing. I fully expect our community to game pretty much everything we add to the website. The key is to ensure that said gaming plays out in a direction beneficial to the site and the community. In this case I expect that people will get an ego boost by seeing that "x people liked this comment" or favorited it or whatever. Gaming that particular display means making comments that others like. I don't really see a problem with that, apart from the groupthink thing, which is going to happen anyway.
I just want to add this:
http://xkcd.com/810/And say thanks again for making the forums a nice place to hang out.
Something about all that frothing trollish behavior hidden beneath the surface of the site makes me nervous. Like it can't be sanitary having all that stuff down there.
Throw in some otyughs down there. They'll keep the stuff down to a minimum.
Seriously though, I'm not a big fan of the idea of forums becoming a popularity contest. If you like and admire someone, that's fine. Email them. Game with them. Take them out to dinner if they live in/drop by your town. Buy them stuff for their birthdays.
And if you dislike them and/or their ideas, then stop reading their posts. All better ideas than a rating system for posts, I think.