Also, I think it needs the comment count. If a story doesn't seem interesting at first on HN, but the comment count is high'ish, it might change my mind about

Also, I think it needs the comment count. If a story doesn't seem interesting at first on HN, but the comment count is high'ish, it might change my mind about reading it and diving into the conversation. Or if the comment count is just plain high regardless, I'll often scan the discussion to see what has the HN community so fired up.