I voted for the karma-coward option because people are different, so having more options is good. But being new myself (only 16 comments, 43 karma points), you might be more interested in the fact that I would not use them if they were available.
I find it very gratifying to receive karma points. It motivates me to write more comments. If I was granted a grace period in which my comments did not receive karma points, I might have posted even less. Even the downvotes are a motivator, not to post more, but to put more effort next time I have something to say.
When I post a comment, a part of me does it to earn more karma points. If I expect that a comment will get downvoted, I rephrase it until I expect it to be accepted by the community. Therefore, even if I was the kind of person who needs protection from those scary downvotes, I would never cover my comments with cowardliness, as I would never expect the downvotes in the first place.
I voted for the karma-coward option because people are different, so having more options is good. But being new myself (only 16 comments, 43 karma points), you might be more interested in the fact that I would not use them if they were available.
I find it very gratifying to receive karma points. It motivates me to write more comments. If I was granted a grace period in which my comments did not receive karma points, I might have posted even less. Even the downvotes are a motivator, not to post more, but to put more effort next time I have something to say.
When I post a comment, a part of me does it to earn more karma points. If I expect that a comment will get downvoted, I rephrase it until I expect it to be accepted by the community. Therefore, even if I was the kind of person who needs protection from those scary downvotes, I would never cover my comments with cowardliness, as I would never expect the downvotes in the first place.