Well, I think the hot20 does serve a purpose around here... It provides people with happiness or satisfaction to get in there - its always nice to have your name associated in some way with the names of people you consider "good". And a lot of people do this for the fun, so a little bit of rewarding happiness from getting into the hot20 is always a good thing (when doing this 3d stuff stops being fun for me, then thats when I'll wander off and go watch the grass grow... instead of watching the scanline progress). A second thing it does is provide a little more exposure, especially for newer members or for people who don't have a "name" thats instantly recognisable and hence instantly clickable - that extra bit of exposure was why I was generating lists of images that didn't make it into the hot20 a while ago... but that idea got 56k'ed which is why it went away. The extra exposure I think leads to a bit of extra attention for the person, and if they're serious about all this stuff, it'll make it easier for them to get help if they need it (people in general are much more willing to help or look at the work of people that they know in some way or another). Just some stray thoughts at the moment.....

Dreams are just nightmares on prozac...
Digital WasteLanD