Actually its not arbitrary at all. The XP and Reputation system at the very core have a number of very important uses and are tied into almost all subsystems which have been created to fill a number of specific functions. The leveling aspect is just one of the many protections we have against trolling, spamming, proper handling of server resources (ie. being subscribed to 10,000 tribes is heavy on the server) as well as being a major part in content management. We haven't explained it in full as we don't want the system to be gamed, but I can assure you there is nothing arbitrary about any of it, it was created with specific goal in mind and took a lot of time and effort. I do however understand why you may naturally feel this way, karma points are useless internet points after all.
Actually its not arbitrary at all. The XP and Reputation system at the very core have a number of very important uses and are tied into almost all subsystems which have been created to fill a number of specific functions. The leveling aspect is just one of the many protections we have against trolling, spamming, proper handling of server resources (ie. being subscribed to 10,000 tribes is heavy on the server) as well as being a major part in content management. We haven't explained it in full as we don't want the system to be gamed, but I can assure you there is nothing arbitrary about any of it, it was created with specific goal in mind and took a lot of time and effort. I do however understand why you may naturally feel this way, karma points are useless internet points after all.