I’m just wondering if I can think of anything else. Overall, it would be nicer if you received the badge shortly after creating the reports, and not much later. The date when you receive the badge does not refer to the trigger (like or reply with PR), but to when you created the topic. And since badge notifications don’t show you the actual badge you’ve received, but rather a list sorted by date, the new badge can be difficult to find, which makes it hard to find out for which report you actually got the badge for now.
Of course, this problem isn’t entirely new, but the fewer likes are given when someone looks at a bug, the more often this will occur.
Also, a like makes you feel that a topic was read. I know you always say the team reads everything, but sometimes a like can help to support the feeling that this really happens. Topics without a reply or like sometimes feel overlooked.
A report that periodically highlights which topics have not received likes could, in my opinion, better encourage the giving of likes and remind everyone to do so than the change that sharing a link is also sufficient. This will probably lead to even fewer likes.