Corm

That's honestly a really good way to handle it. Good thinking.

Assuming you have sane voting weights for the various user levels, that could work.

Why does this extension need to see my copy/paste data? I really wish I could use it but I'm not giving that permission.

Yeah it would be fine if I could disable it

Stackoverflow's system seems more naive than this since they don't verify users by address. But can you go into more detail on your gripes with SO?

StackOverflow has a similar system where users build up reputation by being helpful and active, but it doesnt stop them from having incorrect opinions or just making mistakes and putting off newer users. It even gives older users an advantage in discussions and having their point come across as true.

How does it give old users an advantage, and how does it encourage incorrect opinions and mistakes?

I suppose that you mean that since you can see a user's score, you're more inclined to upvote a high level user's answer. But in my (rather long) experience on SO I've rarely seen that to be the case.

The address verification helps