Some good well intentioned ideas here, though I have a few comments to make.
1. Who ever said that post count had anything to do with competence, or quality of advice? No one, it is an assumption made by users who infer that anyone that has been around long enough to generate a large number of posts, must be quite knowledgable. Fair assumption I guess. I don't see any need to eliminate post count, users just need to modify their assumptions, thats all. I like to know how many posts some users have made, as it lets me know how much effort they make helping out. I don't make assumptions based on post count so its not a problem for me.
2. Its true that there a large number of pointless posts recently, probably due to lack of much interesting to say, and a desire to communicate, even if its pointless. We still have a better (more mature) forum than many other sites, and most users are very well mannered and helpful, so things aren't as bad as it sometimes appear. Quality fluctuates, that is normal.
3. The idea of having moderators award users for the quality of their posts is fine, though it does introduce a personal element (unlike post count), and is dependent on those doing the assessing to understand the value of information posted. Also, how can you assess a general discussion? Not easily.
4. Not everyone wants to be assessed. Many users make posts simply to help others, and to socialise a little with others that have similar interests.
Generally, people will come and go over time, and those that are appreciated more will tend to stay around longer than those who aren't. Things always sort themselves out given time.
One thing I did notice is that there are quite a number of people that read these formums regulary, and occassionally see fit to join when they are able to help out with particular issues. It's very good that so many helpful individuals exist and contribute when they are able to help.
A rating system is for most users not particularly useful, and will only be of interest to those that post regulary. Because of this, I do not feel it useful to force voting on others that do not wish to take part.
Maybe we could have an 'end-of-year' vote for 'best contributions', or something similar, and allow users to enter up to, say around five links, of their best posts, which others can then judge. Just a suggestion, so feel free to ignore, or modify.
Edit: I just missed acid to the draw, while composing this tomb. It strikes me that acid may be recommending some form of communism - where we are all equal, though some are more equal than others. Tough call.