Does kbin have a "karma" of sorts? Because I'm now wondering if removing that mechanism wouldn't be good for originality. The only effect karma had on me was that I wanted to get more of it, like a score to increase. And it's definitely a major contributor to reposting

I agree. This is a great thing to see. I’d rather see fresh content instead of bots reposting the same topics in multiple subs. This feels more like a community with actual people. Plus, the “Reddit speak” was kind of annoying. Done for karma farming but otherwise meaningless.