This Forum includes an optional feature called "Karma" which allows users (at least somewhat established users, who have registered and posted a few times) to give positive or negative karma points to users who contribute something positive or negative to the Forum.
So...
Someone who creates an interesting topic, or who posts an insightful post, or a good CD review, might receive positive karma.
Someone who breaks a Forum rule, or posts something inappropriate, or even who posts a "waste of space" comment, might receive negative karma.
I've turned on the karma option so we can experiment with it a bit. If it's used frivolously or spitefully, I'll just disable it, but if it can be used for a sort of "peer review" to encourage people to contribute, and discourage people from acting like fools, then we'll keep it.
The karma points show up under your name & avatar, each time you post.