I'm in the top 3% and I've noticed another thing: it's enough to have 10k points to be in the top 3%. I haven't been answering anything for a couple of years, and I still get something like 200-400 points per week/month - it depends. So I think I will be in the top 1% next year doing absolutely nothing :)
Similar situation. I'm in the top 2% mainly because of a handful of question I asked 10+ years ago that keep bringing in points every single day.
One time I posted a fairly basic question and someone commented "why are you posting stupid questions if you have so many points?"
A coworker once saw the SO homepage on my machine with all my points and said "wow, what kind of answers are you posting?". I'm so embarrassed that I make a point of not being signed in at work.
If questions and answers carry the same weight in points assigned to profile (not sure they do?), that doesn't make much sense.
What about if HN didn't show your points next to your name when you're logged in?
It really doesn't matter how many fake internet points you have except to get you hooked into the gamification. I'd much rather not see that number. Any attention I pay to that number (which is way more than I'd wish) is a waste of time, at best.
Apart from that, you have to go out of your way to see points values, except on your old comments.
"Over one third of my reputation was "earned" from me doing absolutely nothing for over two years. Indeed I went from the top 4% of contributors at my time of departure to the top 3%, despite, you know, me not doing anything."
I don't see the problem here. He's not getting points for doing nothing. He's getting points for something he did in the past. Sort of like royalties.
...and in a lot of cases, account age. I haven't participated in Stack Overflow for years, but there's still a steady trickle of points accumulating from my mediocre questions and answers of old.
You literally have to actively choose to look at the leaderboard. And you have to make your account link to your profile. So if you are capable of ignoring a thing that has no impact, and of not willfully publishing your connection to the site, you're in the clear.
Since only the first 100 get points, it's really easy to ignore the leaderboard. Odds are against you when (at least in the early days) 30-50k people are competing.
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