When I was a mod, karma points could come in handy when trying to decide if a user 1) just had a one-off weird day and just needed one comment removed, 2) had a slightly questionable comment history and needed to have all comments manually approved or 3) had a history of hate speech and needed to be banned immediately across the associated communities.
I also appreciated in informational subs that karma would allow for the most accurate or additional information to rise to the top. It wasn’t 100% accurate and could really depend upon the sub, particularly the moderation team, but it allowed the drivel or disinformation to be more easily ignored.
Sure, there’s a bit of gamification with made up points, but karma does have it’s uses and I’m hoping that the positive aspects can be brought over to the fediverse.