Require a comment to enable up/downvote.

I disagree. We don't need to be forced to comment on a troll/spam thread just to be able to downvote it. Besides, the amount of comments in a thread is one of the things that determines what's "hot". It'd mess with the algorithms.

What this forum needs is more "Posting to downvote the OP" comments. Definitely.

Funnily enough, that's what I'm doing -- since that's being requested in this thread. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL.

No, they are an indicator that someone has read and disagrees with the statements you made. They might not have a comment to make but they can still express their opinion through that system.

Seems like you've acquired yourself a downvote fairy. Even though I disagree with your post, I've been an upvote fairy for you, to even it out, because I think there's good discussion to be had. (And, I'll say, this is another case in point: downvotes stifle good discussion).