I see by reading the status on the green reputation box most of us are on a distinguished road. I assume thats our initial status as forum fodder.
I don't see a numerical value, buy I could have sworn I saw something in my User CP saying "earned 12 rep pts". That could be a real memory or a tiny bit of brain damage. Heh.
Do we earn rep points for particularly helpful posts. I know after Lord Of The Rings PMed K*** and Myself in a 2-for-1 msg about the way a thread was progressing in a bad direction, I recall the message was called a reputation change or something to signify that rep points/status could be affected in the future.
I could fathom a guess that level of your rep might signify your forum rights. I read that before banning, you might get spanked by "Restrictions" such as limits on viewing or posting.
No biggie. My reputation has never been tarnished yet. Unless you heard some of my really bad puns on Ventrillo or Teamspeak while playing medal Of Honor. Heh!