pileofrogs, I totally get what you mean.
I have at times wondered how to create a similar site for my sport, I think the XP thing helps and is pretty much unique to PerlMonks. Sure there are points and similar on other systems, but they actually do stuff here. It really does make it a bit like a game. I know sitting on the XP I have now that I have so little to make the next "level", it's kinda sad that I want to "level up", but deep down I do.
More seriously I suspect the downvote factor helps as perhaps it prevents "trolls".

Maybe this XKCD sums it up: http://xkcd.com/189/

Kia Kaha, Kia Toa, Kia Manawanui!
Be Strong, Be Brave, Be perservering!

In reply to Re: Why does PerlMonks rock? by lwicks
in thread Why does PerlMonks rock? by pileofrogs

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.