My preference was the more egalitarian prior scheme, where it would seem that a post would sort of be judged by its merits without any attendant quasi-authority besides that arising out of a bona fide familiarity with the Meso community. However, I fully acknowledge that I'm not in the norm with these sorts of social incentives anyhow, as I just view the pursuit of a digital badge to be a kind of insignificant one.
One potential concern is that there is, with status societies, at root a "keeping up with the Jones'" effect, where one might with some likelihood seek to avoid being perceived as low status (perhaps frustrating and even leading to the displacement of some fast learners that might be treated as mere trolls for asking honest questions (that a Veteran would be unlikely to be on the receiving end of), that the new arrival is not yet equipped to bolster against by creating inspirational, informative, or helpful posts (yet) because they lack the raw ability, despite their potential to at some later point become excellent contributors. This system, then, might simply add more detrimental and persistent granularity to the old prejudiced lenses historically guided by the social cues of: a) no avatar, b) low post count, and c) beginner questions.
More importantly, though, I view any plan to disrupt or dismantle the concerned threats to the harm reduction community from source shilling and unsavory marketing tactics, were they permitted to flourish, as a paramount one. If that's an achievable goal with this system, I encourage investigating that possibility to its very conclusion. And if the price that I have to pay is a forum where status is considered as conferring some authority (in exchance for enhanced community harm reduction), then so be it.
