When I first started posting here like 4 years ago, I have to admit!, I was comment obsessed and thought WHY is THAT artist is getting MORE comments than ME? It was a major EGO thing for me. Being a newbie at the time, I wanted acceptance and couldnt get over some of the stuff I saw being commented on. I was always askin myself, WHY,WHY,WHY?!?!?!? It quickly dawned on me that I was being really stupid! WHO AM I anyways, to have this elitist type attitude towards fellow artists! It sure wasnt gettin me anywhere. It was just getting IN THE WAY of being CREATIVE and holdin me BACK from SHARIN. Soooo, I changed the way I thoughtgrew up! Simple as that! Like many others, I came to the conclusion awhile ago that the ratings thing was pretty worthlessso I disabled it! WE should ALSO have the ability to disable voting in our galleries too! I for one dont care if my images end up in the HOT 20. Actually, I rarely visit the HOT 20 anywaysWHAT is the intention of THIS anyways? Commenting is another story. If even one person takes the time to make a comment, I know Ive touched that someone in someway. THAT means A LOT to me! I do the same when I want to show appreciation for an artists work or an image GRABS my attention! The galleries are for the most part being used as intended. SHARIN' our art/images and views of the world! Are they perfect, not by a long shot? They could definitely use some improvements, like the ability to EDIT a comment! How about the ability to CLEAR comments when an image gets replaced with an updated version? This would avoid confusion, when a comment may refer to the ORIGINAL image that was posted!) One area I dont feel the galleries are really geared towards is CRITIQUING images. Since they are more publicly viewed, I feel people shy away from honest to good feedback! Everyone takes/views things from a different perspective and with Renderosity being a globally accessed site, there is somewhat of a language barrier! Not everyone types English well. (Hell, even I dont) Words can be translated or jumbled in the wrong way, giving off the wrong impression than originally intended. Theres also the fear of retaliation if you do offer creative criticism, even if the artist WANTS it. A friend or other member may take offense to your comment and then YOU end up gettin ANOTHER kind of feedback (the unwanted kind). To me, THIS forum seems the best FIT for this kind of thing for now! Until another solution presents itself or is made available! HEY... HOW ABOUT SOME KIND OF PHOTO-FORUM... OPEN HOUSE?!?!?! Make the members more aware that this place exists! (Just an idea!) Ok.... thats all I've got to say for NOW! (WHEW) L8r! Joe