Before, that was add-on/userscript feature. Since moot adopted them into 4chan's codebase, everyone has it.

>only trolls and candyasses pay attention to the number of replies on your post

Exactly. This feature encourages and rewards trolls and people who fish for replies.

>There isn't any kind of long-term karma game like on other sites. 4chan is still content-heavy and shit posts are still looked down upon by the larger community.

The dynamic of the discussion changes though. Even a slight nod matters in a long run considering that 4chan's culture evolves in a very rapid pace, thanks to its ephemerality and anonymity.

>

Come on.