Keith, you're preaching to the choir here. I agree totally with your post, and frankly, the reasons you've listed for your own departure have a lot to do with why I rarely stop in and look around here any more. You said: "Just make sure that you build images for your own satisfaction. Watch out for the sycophants (look it up, I had to) and don't become one yourself. Don't let the flattery go to your head. Keep your life in balance (grasshopper). If you can do these things, you will do better than I did." You know, these words are familiar to me. They, more or less, were uttered to me by a friend who left this place a couple of months ago (had been phasing out before that, too). It's all a popularity contest and really has only somewhat to do with good art. Mostly it's just people who hang together telling each other how wonderful they are -- and sometimes I look at what is being praised the most and it's utter crap. Sometimes it's really beautiful. Too often, though, the really masterful, beautiful stuff gets ignored, or semi-ignored, in favor of crap a first-semester graphics student would turn out. So hey, if this is just a place for people to hang out and stroke each other, fine, if they really need that in order to feel like decent artists. But when you start tailoring your style and art towards what you think people will like -- especially in a venue like this, you (the general "you"), were finished before you ever started. And like you've pointed out, and Matt pointed out, it's all about the tits, man. Matter of fact, when I was told by a moderator about the new cover contest I told the moderator that I wasn't interested -- that, after all, the only people who win are Poser users. Ick. Happy trails, Keith, Linda, Matt, and those of you who have left for much greener pastures. :)