For a long time, the SO and Meta.SO scores we completely separate. This meant that even if you were a top contributor on SO, you might have very low meta-reputation. It was pretty screwed up. I have a fairly high SO rep (top < 0.2%), but in those days my meta-rep wasn't even high enough to unlock many basic features. I remember reporting bugs and getting treated like a noob.

I'd even complained about the reps being separate, pointing out how this gave the power on meta to people who didn't even necessarily contribute on the main site. A bunch of high meta-rep users descended, simultaneously shooting down the idea of merging the reps while admitting that the main reason they like the status quo was because they didn't want to lose their precious karma. I was petty surprised when SO eventually fixed this, but it's kind of too little, too late. I don't bother with meta anymore despite now having a high rep on it. Too many bad memories.