I kinda like the reputation idea. For the exact reasons Hawt mentioned in his first post.
One piece of feedback for you. Is it possible to get some sorta running tally of how "red" or how "green" someone is? Sure I'm green right now (hopefully, this doesn't change

), but is it for one post? Ten? I think you get the idea. That way, like in Hawt's example, when soliciting feedback, the more green someone is, the better their advice is likely to be. As well, the more red someone is, the more likely they are to be someone just looking for free money (or just a regular jerk, but I'm thinking the first reason will get the red flag more often

)
EDIT: Well apparently it sorta does this already. I didn't realize hovering over the box would pull up a comment like "on the distinguished road". Do they change at the same levels as the titles under our names?