That's true. On the other hand, Hacker News is a pretty well known entity, so I think new users would be more willing to put in the time. I also don't think it

That's true. On the other hand, Hacker News is a pretty well known entity, so I think new users would be more willing to put in the time. I also don't think it's too unreasonable to ask people to make comments and participate in the community before allowing them to do more.