I&#x27;m not totally sold on it being strictly based on karma. I created my account just over over 1800 days ago and I only have 299 karma. I visit HN 4 or 5 times a day most time to read a few articles and read through the comments. The fact that someone can join and grind for a week or two to get to 500 and be allowed to down vote seems silly when after over 250 weeks of quiet participation I&#x27;m unable to do the same.<p>Unless the goal is to push for user participation, in which case I guess I get it on some level.