Is that like some troll power bar? Allows trolls to know how well they are doing? Do they go super Saiyan of they max it out? Personally I don't like it always being present if it's empty. That kinda makes u feel like your being watched and is anti-ethical to the spirit of the message board, imo.

-ddn

There's always been a warning level... I think its set by moderators when accounts have been temporarily suspended for misbehaving? for what it's worth, I find it annoying to see it next to my name when I have 0%

As slayemin mentioned, it's always existed (Even in the older forum software) it just wasn't visible except when at non-zero.
I guess they decided to just make it always available, as discussed here.

In addition to the topic linked above, there's also a post in the GDNet Staff Journal discussing this: "System Change: Viewing Your Warning Level".

The warning level system is something we've always had, but which wasn't previously visible to users -- you can receive warnings for all sorts of things (without necessarily being suspended or banned), or it can also be used to add notes to your profile without issuing a warning at all, which moderators will sometimes use to keep track of miscellaneous information about certain types of site activity. If you receive a warning you should also receive a PM or email with an explanation. Receiving a warning isn't usually something to worry about -- you're just being told that some behaviour (often insulting other members, or obvious trolling) is not acceptable and that continuing to do it may result in suspension or a ban.

I'm going to close this topic -- you can share any further thoughts either in the staff journal (which I linked above) or in the other topic (linked to by Servant of The Lord).