Perhaps the most useless functionality on the web today.

IF the forums are not a popularity contest then it shouldnt matter if DUDE#1 get 100 thumbs down compared to DUDE#2 who has 75 thumbs up and 25 down.

I do know that I'll never reply to a post by saying "+1 DUDE"

User ratings will let people know who is the constant blowhard that wont/cant ever STFU

I know I wont be butthurt and its obvious the forum is heading towards RC.com failure

without naming the first users that come to mind I'd say the last two posters ,will and the col. would be on the plus side so reading what they post is worth it. my posts? 50/50, take your chance

Yes we have . . . "done it", haven't we? I can't wait for the pious masses of nooblets and noobtards to dominate the popularity contest that will now be the PC opinion on MP. Dreamy.

One of the big challenges with this sort of thing is the idea that group think works on everyone. Sadly, with the limited observation of primarily this website, it has become clear that those who are particularly strong minded will likely not succumb to the pressures of group think. In fact, those folks sort of group "thunk" out of here have shown up in a variety of pesky different monikers that continue to plague the internet world. So, net-net, nice idea for the bulk of us sensitive to the thoughts of our tribe, but sadly it won't work 100% of the time and fix the problem. Cheers.