Shoot me if you wish, but I think this reputation system is much to do about very little. Once a newbie spends a few months on here (hopefully lurking for awhile), he/she should know who's full of knowledge, and who's just plain full of it. After newbies have this sussed, what other benefit does this system serve?
As is already evident, it is a system that's prone to abuse, because it encourages self serving mutual admiration (I'll give you one, if you give me one....) and it apparently rewards those who post in great quantity, as well those who post only great quality. Who really wants to read post after post that say only "Great Job!" "Right on", or "Yeah baby!"? But fluff like this boosts both post count, and reputation. And given the competitive nature of this lot, there will be some who really pay attention to their "scores".
Being a fairly new guy myself, I hate to be the sole dissenting voice about a system that our Mods and Admins are trying so hard to make work, but I felt this needed to be said.