but now there is less anchoring bias

I think this is a large one. I've been participating more in discussions lately because the content seems more thoughtful.

  How do I know what's important without vote counts?

Read and decide what is good and what is bad. For posters, being concise helps people reading. The higher voted comments should move to the top like in the past(?) Forcing both sides to be more thoughtful makes the quality content and participation better.