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People should just use their flags more and moderate the content.

Agreed, but now even distributing votes are making users lose out about 6-7x compared to accumulating votes (selling, trading, voting self), the flag's not gonna work out well when incentives are so lopsided.

I think this must have been widely and exhaustively discussed, but what if VP is separate between upvotes and downvotes. would that make less of a lopsided incentive to moderate content better?

Cynically thinking this might trigger an all-out flagging FFA but really isnt it largely already what's happening to the upvotes nowadays?

perhaps more meditation on the subject is needed.