Ask PG: new downvote limit?

I changed the way downvote limits are handled. It used to be that -4 was the lowest score a comment could get. Now it is just the lowest score that will be displayed.

I made -4 the lower limit a long time ago because there used to sometimes be a very unpleasant atmos of piling on when someone said something unpopular and the score would go down to -10. But I noticed that some people were starting to take advantage of the fact that this meant you could make an asshole remark at the cost of at most 5 karma points. Now there is no limit to the cost.

The reason you see -5 is that the code that changes the score is just Javascript that runs when you click on the up or down arrow. View source and you'll see.

I noticed that too...

(1 hour later) so has anyone managed to get the other message below 4? I can't vote on my own comment, obviously.

I like the idea of having total upvotes and total downvotes for a comment alongside the current net value. It will show what's controversial. Make things more transparent.

...so in the spirit of sharing, I invite other readers to downvote one of these comments and upvote the other. Or hell, downvote me twice if it makes you feel good.