The engagement section is new and experimental. It requires me to check on posts at least twice during the contest week. The only time you'll get a point removed is if people are engaging in the article, but the author doesn't response to any of them at least once.
For now, I need to keep it simple and directed towards the article. If, however, I wanted to do a bonus round for individual authors, then maybe I could focus on an author's cross-commenting on different articles.
Oh completely understand the time requirement is immense. Just a few thoughts from me ;-)