I belong to another forum with a different take on the rep system.
-rank is dependent on the amount of rep you have been awarded by other users of the community
-you can only add rep to another user, you cannot subtract it
they also made it so that every time you push the 'great post' button, the amount of rep you give that person might be more than 1, someone of a very high rank might award 4 point every time he/she presses the button.
this kind of ranking system may breed an elitist mentality though, which is something a lot of you say you would like to avoid.