I should have clarified better that karma also encompasses the comment karma (i.e. votes) in addition to the user's overall karma. Even if you're not concerned

I should have clarified better that karma also encompasses the comment karma (i.e. votes) in addition to the user's overall karma. Even if you're not concerned with a user's karma, the score of a comment definitely affects our perception of it. A few months ago pg hid the comment karma as an experiment and personally, I did not like it one bit. I have relied on the comment karma to highlight what's good and save me the time from reading inessential comments.