Comment by KaeseEs

The naughtiness stuff works on HN despite this, probably since you can't downvote articles and an article eventually getting flagged into deep space doesn't negate the upvotes it received beforehand. The system relies on humans not rewarding intensely but shallowly interesting articles, but perversely these remain a quick route to points.

Nb. I think that recent discussions have put a moderate damper on this, and perhaps the newer ranking algo (in which flagging has greater weight I think?) has played a part, but the problem remains.