Thank you ron for explaining this rather thouroughly!

At least now those random messages saying that i've gained karma have some sort of meaning to me.

Can someone explain Karma?

I've been using OQ for a while now, and I've been noticing that at random times I'll get messages saying I've lost a karma point or gained a karma point. I recently found out how to see how much karma i have (on my current pvp toon I have 8), but what is it for? What does it do?

How do you grant karma or remvoe a karma point from someone?

Is it visible by others?

I tried browsing through this site for answers, but all I found was a post about were to see karma points (which is why I already know that and don't have to ask)