Ooh, yuck! Then we'll just have lots of people mass-abstaining then wishing they could vote when they see how things stand.

I don't see that as being a real problem. First, if they would really find themselves wishing they could vote after the fact, either they would have voted rather than abstained or they are wishing that they could use the revealed reps as input to their own voting decision process, an input which is wisely disallowed. Furthermore, if they were truly disappointed that they had chosen to abstain, that self-imposed punishment would eventually teach them not to abstain unless they were sure they wanted to.

You seem to be going under the impression that voting is something people are loath to do and that they would much rather just reveal the super secret node reps. I think people would get more enjoyment of feeling like they made some small difference by weighing in with their own vote than they would from just observing.

We'll have much less useful voting in general and less input into the rating system, which I feel would make it less useful than it is.

You don't think the voting would be more useful due to the elimination of random votes made just for the purpose of revealing the rep? I do (if only because I know I wouldn't do it anymore.)

If an abstain was treated as a regular vote (with the chance for XP) it could benefit the system by helping to minimize the random votes made just for the purpose of maximizing XP gain.

Treating it as a regular vote without the chance for XP nullifies those possible benefits.

-sauoq
"My two cents aren't worth a dime.";