Because of likebots, likes were given to any post, regardless of quality. Basically, you could spam meaningless posts and get far more likes than someone who writes longer, more thought out messages. And the ranks were based on likes too, so there was actually an incentive to spam. So no, likes returning is not a good idea.
Let me put this another way.
Mars, you and your inability to not tear the ass out of something once you've got your mind into it are pretty much the reason why likes were removed.
Obviously I'm not saying you were the only, or even the first.
There were other likebots about that pre-dated you by a long time.
But like any ecosystem, there existed a certain...
balance. All things in moderation. A few here and there. Maybe break double figures overnight if someone wanted to tip you over a threshold.
But once you (you weren't alone. There are a few other users reading this, whom know who they are) decided to go back months and even years to like
absolutely every single post ever made and spam hundreds of short and ultimately pointless 'XD' or 'lol' messages randomly around every single thread to swell your post numbers, that balance broke.
I used to have a screenshot on my other tablet after one particularly heavy session of likebot and 'lol XD
' that resulted in me gaining
one hundred and fucking seventy notifications in 8 hours, almost
all of which were you.
I actually missed replies to conversations because the notifications for such had been buried under mounds of bullshit spam.
Thanks to that, the old system of merit based on likes and posts didn't work anymore and collapsed. Because just like any currency, hyperinflation and excessive abuse of the system led to them becoming worthless. Even efforts to balance things by changing the goalposts, bumping up the required numbers, making it so non - SFS posts and likes didn't count for example, didn't work.
There was always new places in the SFS section to like and spam. Like locusts, you wouldn't be deterred.
Eventually, this caused huge problems for other users that you have
no idea about. The eventual resolution of which became the reason for the like removal and the rank structure reworking into an objective set of challenges.
That is why likes will never return. Because not having them stops the spam, by removing the incentive, no, the
reward for spamming.
So whenever you or anyone else looks longingly at the place where the like button used to sit, wishes it was still around so you could show appreciation of a mission, challenge, build, concept or post well done, laments that you can't and wonders why it was removed, look no further for the reason.
You. And all your likebot friends looking for a quick laugh.