Totse2's rep system did fail, I will say that. But we had the option for negative rep. People only really complained when they were undeservedly spammed with neg rep, and then I had to go fix it.
As for a system with only positive "rep," or thanks, I'm not sure many people would complain. The upside is it would "encourage" people to post in a manner that is consistent with the majority of the userbase.
After thinking about it, there aren't many downsides. I didn't post a whole lot on Zoklet, but I ended there with 11 likes I think. I didn't give a hoot because I went there to post, not get a merit badge. For those who get off on it, so be it.
We could just try it. If it fails, then remove it.
Sometimes we gotta do things we don't want to do, just to keep our customers happy.