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Edit: I agree with with tim's answer here: https://meta.stackexchange.com/a/11986 What are some justifications for not implementing it this way?

It doesn't really make much sense to me- I've lost 450 rep from bounties, so that means I've earned that much rep. Why must I lose the most basic privileges? Clearly I've demonstrated that I can follow the community guidelines to an acceptable level. Why not make it so that certain privileges are irreversible once you've earned them (unless a moderator manually bans you for something)?

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    $\begingroup$ Why do your checks bounce once you've withdrawn all the money in your checking account? $\endgroup$
    – Asaf Karagila Mod
    Commented Sep 2, 2015 at 10:03
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    $\begingroup$ @AsafKaragila I don't see how that is relevant here. This only makes it more cumbersome for people who award bounties. Is there any advantage to this? $\endgroup$
    – ignoramus
    Commented Sep 2, 2015 at 10:05
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    $\begingroup$ Related post on meta.SE: Is losing privileges after placing bounty OK? $\endgroup$
    – Martin Sleziak
    Commented Sep 2, 2015 at 10:06
  • $\begingroup$ @MartinSleziak Thanks Martin, somehow that didn't show up when I did a quick search for my question. $\endgroup$
    – ignoramus
    Commented Sep 2, 2015 at 10:08
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    $\begingroup$ The point of the bounty is to "pay for additional exposure" if there were no "penalty" for offering a bounty then the bounty would mean less (because it would be easier for everyone to do it)--effectively, every question may as well have a bounty. $\endgroup$
    – TravisJ
    Commented Sep 2, 2015 at 12:32
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    $\begingroup$ @TravisJ Yes but I think the deduction of rep per se is penalty enough, don't you? What's the point of hindering users who have demonstrated that they can participate in the community according to the guidelines? Removal of earned privileges from having rep reduced due to downvotes is understandable because it indicates that the user has behaved "badly" in some way. But for starting a bounty? $\endgroup$
    – ignoramus
    Commented Sep 2, 2015 at 15:08
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    $\begingroup$ @ignoramus, if the deduction in rep doesn't reduce the privilege, then what is the value of rep? If I have X rep, then I can use my rep to either "enjoy privilege A (edit, comment, vote-to-close/delete, etc) and keep my rep" or "enjoy privilege B (offer bounties) and spend my rep." The idea that you should be able to spend your rep and still enjoy the privileges associated with having it seems like wanting to "have your cake and eat it too." $\endgroup$
    – TravisJ
    Commented Sep 2, 2015 at 19:18
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    $\begingroup$ My opinion, is that if you want the privilege of editing (or voting to close, etc) then either: (a) don't offer bounties, or (b) earn more rep before offering a bounty. You could also hope that your question might be so good, and get so much visibility from the bounty, that it gets a number of upvotes and you earn your bounty back (though I wouldn't count on this). $\endgroup$
    – TravisJ
    Commented Sep 2, 2015 at 19:20
  • $\begingroup$ One might consider that being able to give bounties without suffering is one of the privileges that comes with having oodles and oodles of rep - and is a perfectly fitting privilege to give to people who have been here for so long. $\endgroup$
    – Milo Brandt
    Commented Sep 2, 2015 at 23:05
  • $\begingroup$ I visited this thread because this happened to me. I haven't offered many bounties before 25k because I really wanted access to site analytics. Then I hit the threshold and offered a bounty, losing access. Tying access to site analytics to reputation is pretty much just because they only want "established" users having access to it.The fact that I got to 25k rep over 4 years of essentially daily visitation should establish that I'm a "trusted" user even if I thereafter give a bounty. This isn't that big of a deal anyway. I'll just wait for a couple hundred more rep before doing bounties again. $\endgroup$
    – Kaj Hansen
    Commented Feb 24, 2018 at 1:16
  • $\begingroup$ Milo makes a good point though. $\endgroup$
    – Kaj Hansen
    Commented Feb 24, 2018 at 1:18

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Reputation means something as long as it's tied to privileges. Without them, it's just an inconsequential statistic, like the number of posts or comments you made or the number of days you visited the site, etc. Then the bounties would be essentially free.

I offer several answers to your question, take them or leave them

Why must I lose the most basic privileges?

  1. Because you decided to give them away.
  2. Because there must be real friction in issuing bounties. If everything is featured, then nothing is featured. Even if 1000 posts are featured, they aren't really featured.
  3. Because otherwise there would be other questions on this meta in place of yours:
    • how did this user with 10 reputation points leave a comment?
    • why is this user with 1700 reputation able to edit?
    • how did this user with 2800 reputation vote to close my questions?
    • (repeat the above items ad nauseam)
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  • $\begingroup$ 1. I obviously knew that. I'm questioning the effectiveness of a system like this. 2. The fact that rep is limited will limit the number of bounties that can be placed. Also, the "prestige" associated with rep is lost for the many users who do care about it. But losing this "prestige" doesn't hinder the user from contributing to the site. It's the privileges that do. I also suggested that "certain privileges" and not all. So maybe for example voting and commenting. 3. Yes but the existence of questions does not necessarily imply a less effective system. $\endgroup$
    – ignoramus
    Commented Sep 2, 2015 at 23:39
  • $\begingroup$ @ignoramus: You can still post answers, questions, and suggest edits. $\endgroup$
    – Asaf Karagila Mod
    Commented Sep 3, 2015 at 0:19
  • $\begingroup$ @AsafKaragila Yes, but I am proposing the idea that it would improve the effectiveness of the site if a few more were added to that set. $\endgroup$
    – ignoramus
    Commented Sep 3, 2015 at 1:10

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