Since this is a pretty part time gig for me, and I am having less and less time actually available to be part of this community, there are many days where I barely get to replying to the comments people have left for me.
As you say, comments are really a good way to sort out the people who care about community (and maybe content) from those who are just here to "click buttons for cash."
I don't much care about "rank." I've watched several of my followers post their earliest comments here with 20-something rep scores, and now they have passed me up and gone on to "greater things." Which is kind of cool... shows that doing something like that is totally possible.