[The Barrow-Wight]

The power of your reputation-giving goes up with your reputation and your time on the board (how long you have been a member). Older members have more reputation 'weight' than newer members, and those with high reputations have more 'weight' than people with lower reps. The weights are usually anywhere from 1 to 10 points, depending on the member, but people whose reputation drops below 0 have no weight at all and are wasting their time giving reputations. Stay above zero, or get above is you have already slipped.