I think the lack of notifications is what makes it less likely to turn into a flamewar type of place. You don't know that someone is wrong.

I've considered creating an extension for firefox/chrome that added this feature because I'm argumentative.

=> https://www.hnreplies.com/

Try using hnreplies.com

I quite like that it doesn’t. The reputation counter is all the feedback I need in order to know if I need to back off for a bit and do more research (going down) or if I’m making valid points that others find useful (going up). It also means I’m not overwhelmed with more manipulative stimuli (notification indicators) and can engage with HN at my own pace.

Honestly, if HN added notifications I’d probably just leave. I don’t need Yet Another Attention Thief in my life.

You can always hit the 'threads' link in the navbar. Internet forums evolved without this glaring gap in basic functionality and some somehow continue to eke out an existence without it.

I built https://hackernewsalerts.com just for that!