Do that many people use the personal mod tools? I have never had a situation where I have had to mute anyone.

Here's a very quick concept of some possible additions to the comments section.

The 'discuss' counter could count up based on the number of child comments there are. A high number at the top of the chain would indicate that there's a good discussion below. For me, this is the most important indicator that it is worth reading on and more useful than seeing how many people have 'shared' at the comment level.

I know the second has purposely not been included in the site, but being able to agree/disagree is a good micro-transaction that allows people to quickly engage in the conversation without having to spend time formulating responses or simply stating agreement. I personally don't think this will water down the quality of the comments and I think it could help strengthen the community and discussions.

There may be room for more than one type of badge? Maybe one each for quality content / creative thought / hubski community. I'm not really sure where this idea came from or the purpose of it, but I didn't want to throw it in the trash.

I only put links to the side because sometimes I feel they get in the way of discussion and interpretation, decreasing the quality of their application and original thought.