I think we need a Kudos system (also known as karma system, respect system, etc). Each user can only give one "kudos" an hour. So if you post a kickbutt screenshot or something, or are generally just being a good dude on the forums, people give you kudos. It means a lot more than the postcount; its showing what people think of you, not how many times people see your name.
As far as I know such a mod exists for YaBB, I'll go hunt it out if anybody's interested.
On another forum i go on there is a 'thanks' system whereby if someone makes a post there is a 'thanks' button. If someone makes a useful post people who are reading it have the opportunity to say thank you. People have a 'thanks' count of the number of times they have said thanks and the amount of times you have been thanked. Its pretty much the same as the system you suggested.

















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