The culture of Renderosity is not like most art sites out there. Most sites are completely targetted toward professional art and those with that goal exclusively, and thus, the critiques are plenty harsh for artwork, usually made by pro artists, accomplished in their field. If your goal is to become such an artist, then these sites would probably better cater to your yearning for such critique. There is no rule that you have to only post to Rosity. When the culture is designed as such, then yes, posting is an assumption of such critique.

People then assume because Rosity heralds itself as an Art Community that such an assumption is valid here, but the culture is different here. The site has become so popular because it gives artists the freedom to express their emotions through their art, whether they are technically proficient or not. That puts their hearts much closer to the canvas than other sites do. I find the gallery here to be far more expressive than any professional site (like CGTalk) and the culture favors the people behind the art, rather than just the art. I don't see anything wrong with that. One can play and create without fear of being drawn and quartered for their noncompliance to the Rule of 3. Often pieces here represent a person's darkest moments or pain, such as was during 9/11. The last thing someone wants during those times is more negative things about their art, themselves (no matter how it's packaged). When you are in such condition, and I've seen the most mature people go through this, any such comment can sting like having a knife plunged into you. Of course, for the commenter, it was a just a straight forward comment like the rest, but to recipient, depending on their mood in real life, it can hurt. Also not every artwork is meant to be a masterpiece, but might just be some fun with friends. The culture again supports this, so the expectations are that they shouldn't be torn apart.

If people want critique, and on many pictures they do, then there are avenues for that. Put a request in the picture or post it in the forum with an ask for help. It should never be assumed that people want critique for simply posting, at least IMO, especially without knowing what reason they posted for.

This shouldn't be taken as whether people want to improve or not, because I think all in all most do, but one of the reasons critiques are even seen in a bad light is because the critique is often without substance to improve. I've gotten stuff like, "I don't like the water." "Or that would look better over there." These are subjective specifics about a single picture. More helpful would be, "The water is cool, but here is a some great techniques for painting water if you are interested [link]." On most sites, pro artists often provide tips rather than what they don't like. It is of no value to know something is wrong and not know how to fix it. In fact, it's frustrating.

I hope this doesn't offend people. I seem to have a knack for rubbing people the wrong way with everything I post, but it is my thoughts on the matter of critiques and why Rosity culture is as it is.

ShadowWind

Course Trolls are a whole 'nother story...