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I noticed on the Gaming meta, that downvoting didn't affect my reputation at all.

I suppose it has to do with the fact that Parent + Meta rep is linked, but downvoting comes with no penalty.

I'm sure this issue is already known and applies to every beta site, I just didn't see any posts about it.

Edit: I'm an idiot - the downvote in question on the parent site was community wiki. Downvote on the parent site works fine, but the fact that the meta downvote doesn't count was puzzling.

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1 Answer 1

up vote 5 down vote accepted

It is deliberate and was brought up on the Web Apps Meta dungeon:

  • The more you participate on [the parent Stack Exchange site], the more "stake" you should have in how the site is governed and run here on [its] meta.

  • Since votes on meta no longer "hurt" or "harm" for reputation people are more free to cast votes on the content of posts, without worrying about the effect on the poster's rep.

  • The focus should be on participation on the parent site; participation on meta should never become a rep-generating goal in and of itself.

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I think his point really is, though, that he didn't get a -1 for a downvote on the primary site, which is a no-repro from my end. I cast a downvote on Gaming and got the -1. –  squillman Jul 12 '10 at 4:35
The post in question was community wiki - I didn't realize that until just now. Downvoting does work as intended on the parent site. This answer is still helpful as I was confused about why my reputation wasn't changing on Meta. –  Corey Jul 12 '10 at 4:41

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