I'm going to do something like this. I don't want to use Monk rankings though. Can you guys think of some other heirarchry I can use for the "levels"? Maybe star trek ranks like ensign?
I don't think it's very complex at all. The implementation may involve a small amount of math but it's very light and done by the system, to users it's all transparent.
The site quite accurately increases the influence of users that fellow users feel are good contributors. The Perlmonks system has evolved over almost a decade and produced one of the best online communities I've ever seen.
'... complexity that could only come from the mind of a perl coder. ...'
Complex maybe but the results are very noticeable. You can't do things you have not earned the privilege for. No more spam from single accounts created 5 minutes ago. No more down voting by 30 points because someone feels like it.
The discussions are moderate in tone and things get done. Compared to slashdot, reddit even news.yc, perlmonks is hands down a more even tempered place to ask questions, solve problems and discuss things programming.
But I don't think it will ever really be built at news.yc. Different culture and founder dna.
