My issue with it is if you're posting link bait threads all the time you might get hundreds of karma for very little effort.
However In my case I have 6XX karma which was earned by people up-voting thoughtful comments over several years on HN.
Point being, not all karma is the same and I'm not sure we're going to get higher quality commentary with this new system. I actually think it's going to make users chase karma and try to game the system.
Chasing karma and gaming the system are entirely different in the context of HN.
Chasing karma means you're actively participating and gaining the positive attention of your peers.
Gaming the system would mean that you're somehow gaining karma without participating or without making positive contributions. I'm not sure how link baiting will work, unless you mean that people will go out of their way to be the first person to post a URL. That may become the best way to get karma, but it's also a positive for HN because relevant links will be getting posted immediately. Therefore you wouldn't technically be gaming the system.
I appreciate your commenting and believe that we're on similar tracks (I've been around for about a year and have about 250 karma), but maybe this feature is a signal that we could be doing a better job.
However In my case I have 6XX karma which was earned by people up-voting thoughtful comments over several years on HN.
Point being, not all karma is the same and I'm not sure we're going to get higher quality commentary with this new system. I actually think it's going to make users chase karma and try to game the system.