Ah yes the Old "Karma" thing, I know this, I used it on an old board. It was really good, because members could contribute to someone's current Karma, and they could "Exalt" or "Smite" (Exalt being raise someone's Karma, and Smite meaning take away someone's Karma) although there are people who just use it senselessly, and just keep Smiting someone, or if they are friends with one person, they would have them Exalt them, and then they Exalt the other. Know where I am going with this.
Anyway I really am glad that it is just Administrators can do this, because it would determine the actual levels of people properly, although Steve (the admin) has all his bars full, it still doesn't mean that he did it, it could be just a Ranking thing, like I have seen at this one Forum. But on there they change to like a Purple (if you are on the graphics staff), a red (if you are an admin) and an orange (if you are a Mod) while the members had a blue 'Pip' and that would work up with the Admins Karma support.