Reputation technically is being used even when it doesn't seem like it is. Earning XP is heavily dependent on how good your REP score is, the better it is the quicker you earn XP for basically anything you do on snapzu. If my reputation score is 49.5% I am earning XP half as quickly as someone with a reputation score of 99%. This means that if my rep remains at the 50% mark, it would take me twice as long to reach 50 as someone with 99%. Having said that, to earn a reputation of 99% it currently takes about 3 months of being a really active/contributing member not to mention it is more volatile, compared to the 2+ years it takes to reach level 50, you can see why level based down votes tend to be the better and more vested option.
Reputation technically is being used even when it doesn't seem like it is. Earning XP is heavily dependent on how good your REP score is, the better it is the quicker you earn XP for basically anything you do on snapzu. If my reputation score is 49.5% I am earning XP half as quickly as someone with a reputation score of 99%. This means that if my rep remains at the 50% mark, it would take me twice as long to reach 50 as someone with 99%. Having said that, to earn a reputation of 99% it currently takes about 3 months of being a really active/contributing member not to mention it is more volatile, compared to the 2+ years it takes to reach level 50, you can see why level based down votes tend to be the better and more vested option.
This does make sense.