Yes. There were far too many people with nothing to contribute doing useless (or actively harmful) busywork to earn points.

Are you referring to edits? If so, I haven't seen that, and certainly not as a notable issue on the site. Instead, I think I saw closer to the opposite - edits to questions or answers that fixed typos, pointed out that an answer's linked app had been down for years, etc. were often rejected.

Same on Reddit. Every gamification triggers Goodhart's Law and has a lifespan.