Interesting comments however I'd have to disagree with requiring the comments in order to vote. As others have said, you will likely see a sudden influx of comments that do not add any value at all to the discussion. I know for myself, I've often voted for interesting responses. Either they were helpful to me and I was thanking the poster by ++'ing the node or sometimes they simply make me laugh like some responses to the Poll. Do I feel a burning need to post a response? no. Other times, I just have a couple of minutes to read things that interest me but not necessarily to post a thought out reply (I'd really hate to see a flood of replies like 'ditto' or 'me too'). I think maybe too much value is placed on experience gained thru voting. Perhaps I'm simply a lone voice crying in the wilderness :-)