I was told by some reliable sources (least I thought they were) last Nov. that R planned to rework the Hot 20 EARLY in 2005. We are near the end of Feb and nothing has been mentioned. Is this an issue R just wont touch? Or what?

It is currently being discussed :D

The H20 rework is one of those inside jokes.

Well, it's not a joke...as Nick said, we are discussing it right now..Trying to find "the right fix" isn't as easy as one might think.. Trust me, I want to see it fixed more than you know..

There's a spay and neuter clinic available just a couple of miles from here... we could really fix it. :< Meanwhile, I'm posting photographs so that I don't even have to go into the Poser Gallery. Why walk through a minefield? Carolly

There was "mostly" a constructive discussion of fixing the Hot20 here: http://www.renderosity.com/messages.ez?Form.ShowMessage=2131570 I hope that those involved will take some time and go read some of the points made there. Thanks. 8]

I don't know about the Photography Forum, but in the Poser and Bryce Forums, the Hot 20 has been broken for years and just gets worse. When I was a staff member, I tried to do something about it, suggested killing it (with links to some of the most heinous of the abuses) or replacing it (with several reasonable ideas for galleries which would spotlight the GOOD work done here). Nope. Despite my best, most thoughtful arguments, the Hot 20 was kept intact. 5 years of complaints and we still have this vehicle for fraud, bribery, victimization. I have no hope that anything will change in the next 5 years. I do not vote, I do not rank. They are meaningless. I disabled ranking on my images. I wish there was a way to turn off voting so that an artist can completely opt out of it. Good comments are worthwhile, especially if they are helpful ones for improvement or that the viewer was touched mentally or emotionally by the image (art is communication, after all). A knowledgeable critique would be invaluable, but too many people are thin-skinned. I'd would far rather that we had a critiquing gallery where artists could submit good work and others could help make it better... that way we'd all learn. People who were too shy to submit a piece could still learn from the discussion. But, is this a learning site? Carolly

Hopefully if enough users demand change it will happen. I still hold onto hope that the Hot20 (or Hot40) and be the usefull tool that it was probably intended to be. True, ranking and votes serve little purpose now and commenting is the best feedback we as artists can get, but maybe that can change. When I started posting Bryce image 3 years ago, that Hot20 did reflect much of the best Bryce work and not just that of the popular members. I now post mainly photos and I think most H20s still do show some excellent work, but it is dominate by far too many of the same people, while other excellent work is left unmentioned, unless you happen to see it while scouring the galleries. I for one don't have time for that, which is why I'd love a working system that collected the best of what is out there. Maybe one day...