Certainly your karma impacts what you do outside of HN if it draws people to contact you outside of HN, or compels them to take to interest in your projects. I

Certainly your karma impacts what you do outside of HN if it draws people to contact you outside of HN, or compels them to take to interest in your projects. I don't believe my statement made any of the assumptions you listed. Not everyone wants to make smart-ass comments, but many do. This is more true with people outside our community (Redditers) than for people who have been part of this community for a while. Smart-ass comments are sometimes rewarded here and that is somewhat unfortunate. The general rule however is that they are not. You do not behave like your standard Redditer, and that might be why you no longer engage in discussion there.