I disagree. First, disconnect the actual score with something that indicates a high quality comment. You can display something as high quality without showing a score.
Next, a high quality comment need not have comments. Some of the best comments do not need followup. We should also discourage comments that merely parrot the parent and offer no content of their own. This is probably the biggest argument I have against not having any soft of indicator. If a comment is good, it deserves an up vote to indicate quality.
Next, replies still do not solve the scanning problem. For me to deduce the quality comments using replies requires I read through all the comments. Sometimes this is not an issue, but posts with a larger number of comments, this becomes problematic.
Finally, the above also means that replies of comments, and replies of replies, suddenly makes it really difficult what others deem quality content.
At the end of the day, up voting comments is meant to distinguish good, high quality comments from the normal run of the mill comments. If it's not being used for that, then up votes are merely being used as a way to obtain karma. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that by removing karma from showing which posts are of higher quality, it serves no real purpose other than to obtain more karma. I'm more interested in reading quality comments than obtaining karma, something the current system doesn't assist with. It only makes karma something to "brag" about.
Comments
I disagree. First, disconnect the actual score with something that indicates a high quality comment. You can display something as high quality without showing a score.
Next, a high quality comment need not have comments. Some of the best comments do not need followup. We should also discourage comments that merely parrot the parent and offer no content of their own. This is probably the biggest argument I have against not having any soft of indicator. If a comment is good, it deserves an up vote to indicate quality.
Next, replies still do not solve the scanning problem. For me to deduce the quality comments using replies requires I read through all the comments. Sometimes this is not an issue, but posts with a larger number of comments, this becomes problematic.
Finally, the above also means that replies of comments, and replies of replies, suddenly makes it really difficult what others deem quality content.
At the end of the day, up voting comments is meant to distinguish good, high quality comments from the normal run of the mill comments. If it's not being used for that, then up votes are merely being used as a way to obtain karma. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that by removing karma from showing which posts are of higher quality, it serves no real purpose other than to obtain more karma. I'm more interested in reading quality comments than obtaining karma, something the current system doesn't assist with. It only makes karma something to "brag" about.