The voting is subject to manipulation because of the small number of people who vote. The small numbe of people voting is an indication of how few people have the time or the interest in the whole thing. So you have two groups. The vast majority of people simply enjoy using Poser. They come here for the freestuff, advice, help maybe to look at the pretty pictures. You also have a small group of people who feel passionately about art (I think), and engage in endless debates about naked Vicky, originality, vote fraud etc. The one thing that might change things is more people from the larger group getting involved but... I think any poor Poser hack who gets within 10 miles of here probably figures that their efforts would just be another target for the art posse. Why would anyone who wants to do nudes for example want to get involved when every week there are posts complaining about too many nudes? The overall quality of images at Renderotica may not be as good as here but people there just seem to have fun doing them without having constant carping about what is and isn't art, who isn't trying hard enough, whose pictures aren't being viewed enough or rated high enough. I think that's what most people want out of Poser. I know the small group doesn't see themselves as elitist or obsessive or narrow minded, just passionate people being passionate about something they love. From the outside though, it sometimes looks like one of those fancy clubs where they probably wouldn't be welcome and definitely wouldn't have fun anyway. So the Hot 20 is an inbred, incestuous farce? Go figure. I think I know the answer now. 'Rotica is about sex as much as art, some would say more so. Sex is fun. Art should be fun too but by the time it gets debated, dissected, and given a cavity search for worthiness, it isn't very much fun at all for the unwashed majority.

"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H. L. Mencken