How about getting rid of the public comments and ratings and have a button where the viewer can pass a critique or comment to the poster privately.
That way the artist still gets comments and is therefore presumably happy, but no-one else sees them!! 

mmm.  i can see why that would be attractive.  that would mean people wouldn't see pages of "that's great!" and decide that they must be wrong to see flaws and others right.   but i think that might result in less commenting in general.  and i rather like how insights can be shared; some of what needs to change is how we (some of us at least) look at images in the first place.   i'm on the fence, personally.

i think either way, a  workshop or critique group would be helpful.

ooooowah bugger.. and I do white backgrounds.... damn I hever realised they were so bad... sorry.... maybe now some honest comments perhaps!

LOL at pjz99. Yep, I broke one of my Golden Rules. "Never Post Until the Next Day!"

Good catch, your solution is valid answer. I used AO, I just plain missed it in the little post work did. Thus the second part of my Golden Rule. "Get some sleep and look at it the next day after some coffee." If it looks fine then, then post the image..

I would fix it but it is such a hassel to even upload an image these days let alone edit one. I missed a box so it told me do it again, I made sure the box said none and was told I didn't have an image to upload, you lose all that if you have to correct something, so, I finally got the image uploaded after 3 tries. Man, it might be another 2 years before I put myself through that again.

Here's a little warning for people who use plain white backgrounds...beware, it's easier for tubers to use your images this way.  If someone is requesting plain backgrounds they MAY have an ulterior motive.:glare:

Quote - I see images by certain "arteests" that have no background, the figure is stiffly posed in a canned pose, or a canned pose slightly modified. There is either no expression, the zombie eyed expression, or the deer stuck in the headlights expression. 

There is some fantastic talent posting in these galleries like garyandcatherine, originalkitten, Mondwin, samhal, DigitalDream666, Primal, Fredy, and so many others that barely get a notice. These people put a lot of thought and creativity into their images. They go the extra mile to put that "something extra", and they have more talent in their little fingers than most of us have or will have in our whole bodies even if we had an extra hundred years.

I find it extremely funny that you should rant about lack of expressions and then link to several artist pages who's images where I think I only saw one or two images where they actually put any effort into making an expression on the figure's faces. Not that their images are bad, but they display one of the exact traits your first post ranted about. No expression!

What I have noticed myself, is that people who comment a lot on other people's stuff - suck up or not -get lots of comments back on their own stuff. Also, some people like to get nice comments. I do not expect to have my Poser gallery worth millions after I am dead, LOL!!! I get enough nasty criticism from my own family, like  if I show my husband a picture, he asks "What did THAT cost me", in reference to what I spend on Poser content and PCs plus my horse. Yet he thinks nothing of golfing three times a week and buying every expensive power tool that comes out - sometimes two of them, and he never uses them. But, according to him, "That's different. Tools are forever!" hahahahh. Sometimes the galleries are the only place someone says something nice to me, wuahhhhh, boohooo!!!!!

On a serious note, I am working on the new free Apollo Maximus now and having lots of problems with his eyes. Anyone have any suggestions is welcome to tell me. By problems, I mean they do not pose well. My Apollo always looks drunk. Stay tuned for my next Apollo pic.

Lee well you just tell him that Poser IS a Tool! Sheesh! Men! :b_rolleyes:

i dunno, i like simple, high contrast images.   a plain white or black background often works great, imho.  a lot of my favorite images and photos use plain backgrounds.

Sometimes a background gets in the way, a simple black or white often does the job. 

I agree a simple Black or white background can add to the image but nothing like helping someone to steal your work. As already stated, it is so much easier for tubers to steal and when some wants a white background, I would think it would be for them to do as they please with your image. Now if they pay for that right, that would be different. I rank all that as the same as someone charging you for the right to enter a contenst. The only one that benifits from that con is the con artist. It amazes me how many fall for that.

There's nothing wrong with a plain white background...but when the same artist starts using it with every image it gets old. Same with using the same filters over and over...like Flood or Lens Flare, etc. It's fine to do an image to show off a new toy or a gift, but be creative with it...make an image with it that has a some meaning to it. I mean...come on...dare to be different.

It's fine to leave a comment that basically says you like the piece, trying to work through the gallery and leave a meaningful critique on every image isn't all that easy and it can get pretty time consuming. The point I've been trying to get across is why bother to "ooo and ahh" an unispiring, meaningless image just because you don't have the time or inclination to leave a constructive critique. Why not just move on to the next image without saying anything. Save the comments and critiques for those whose work stands out. Work that shows that a lot of creativity, time, and effort went into it. Work that says something more than "I had some free time so I thought I'd bang out another quick Poser image just to have another image in my gallery". If your one of the ones doing that, ask yourself...are you really doing justice to your talent and your art...or are you acting like you're some kind of a diva presenting another "so called" masterpiece for your public to adore?.

If the number of comments an image gets is our way of measuring the quality of someone's work...we as a community are doing a poor job of evaluating, and we're misleading a lot of people. It's no wonder this site isn't taken seriously.

  Tainted_heart, you threw a tantrum in this very forum a few monthes ago when someone gave their honest opinion of your "Peter Pumpkin" render. And now you're a outspoken advocate for honesty in the galleries? Whatever.

  "Why not just move on to the next image without saying anything."

    And not to pile on, but I think this is absurd. The problem isn't too much commenting, it's that the comments aren't being spread around. Everyone should strive to comment more.

"The point I've been trying to get across is why bother to "ooo and ahh" an unispiring, meaningless image just because you don't have the time or inclination to leave a constructive critique. " 
That's YOUR opinion that the art is uninspiring and meaningless. You mean YOU feel that way. Do not force your opinion on others. Perhaps some people find YOUR art "uninspiring and meaningless".

... and then the knives came out.

The pen is mighter than the sword, or knife as it may be, LOL!

Quote - The pen is mighter than the sword, or knife as it may be, LOL!

Only if the sword is very small and the pen is very sharp

(Bonus points if you know where that quote comes from :) )

I wish ever so much they hadn't made that recent change to the gallery that rubs peoples' noses in this.  I'd thought it was obvious a strong majority did not want a return of the hot 20 model from the past couple of big discussion threads on it.  Tail still wags the dog here I suppose.

Quote - > Quote - The pen is mighter than the sword, or knife as it may be, LOL!

Only if the sword is very small and the pen is very sharp

(Bonus points if you know where that quote comes from :) )

I still prefer the typewriter for impact. Anyone who has ever dropped a good old solid IBM typewriter on his toes will know what I mean.

according to ZeroIntelligence.net , it was Terry Pratchett what said it. now back to the forum wrangling. I suppose my main worry is that poser users have formed a subculture of mutual self-congratulatory self-delusion in the gallery here, to the point that they are always shocked and angered by the negative reactions from 3d snobs when they post a typical poser render outside this subculture. this harms poser's reputation. it's capable of producing excellent renders, so folks should think very carefully before posting poser renders to sites where criticism is the norm, and where anti-poser bias exists.

:laugh: After reading all of this, I see that I've committed every single crime  mentioned :laugh:

I like black backgrounds for my portraits,  my friends are dedicating images to me and even ( huge gasp) have a NVIATWIS in my gallery

I like a black background for a new character. I don't want anything to distract from the features. It's just a personal preference.  
The dedications are a theme in a contest I'm sponsoring at Eclectic Guild.
 And I have NO excuse for the NV except that I worked my you-know-what off dialing that girl's body and I am going to show off all that work as far as the TOS allows 

Without actually knowing the people who post images, it's hard to tell who wants the warm fuzzies and who wants the constructive critisism/advice. So I prefer to err on the side of caution and do warm fuzzies.  And seriously, some people slave for days over what looks like a basic image where as others can whip off a masterpiece in an hour. How can you say one is bad and one is good?

For myself, I have no objection to getting critisism. When someone does make a constructive useful, comment, I save it in an folder so that I can work on the problem. But I don't change my style (or lack thereof) to fit someone else's idea of what a render should look like. 

drifterlee, are you showing your hubby the right images? NVIATWAS may be a cliche, but they do seem to soften the hardest husband  heart

Well for all of you wanting constructive critiques, I've tried that and boy I got snubbed. We take this way to serious. Unless you are making your living off these images, lighten up, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. So what if some get hundreds of comments, they must be popular. More power to them.   

Let's face it, certain people who complain that other people gets lots of comments and they and their friends don't, are just jealous, so "NYA NYA NYA" (sticks tongue out).

this thread reminds me of one of the times I was in court, I was a witness for The Crown.  The defence lawyer wanted to treat me as a hostile witness.  the judge said okay.  Defence started asking me a whole bunch of question that had nothing to do with the case, so I supplied minimal answers.  He turned on me and said "I don't like your answers".  I replied "ask better questions".
If you don't like the comments that others are recieving, maybe you should ask better questions.  In the meantime, Deal With It!
and yes, I've dropped IBM Selectrics on my toes in the past... a whole world of no fun!

Hmmm...

I'm all about dropping by and saying something nice to pretty much everyone.  Oh, and I'm getting pretty popular, maybe there is a relation.

If I don't like something, I don't say anything.  If I can offer a helpful critique, I occasionally do.

For the most part, though, who the hell am I to start telling someone they should have used AO or the Clone Tool or whatever?  Maybe they were going for a different look.  I have a few favorite artists who do stuff that consistantly amazes me.  They have asked me specifically for critiques.  My only possible response could be "I'm not worthy".

Before people go throwing "constructive" critiques around, ask yourselves if you are worthy.  Do you understand the image and the artist's intentions, tools and level of experience?

And there is nothing wrong with throwing out kind words or encouragement to newbies and those with less technical expertise.  I have seen plenty of very weak images that communicated fantastic ideas.  Art is communication, the web is communication and the comment areas on the pictures are working out nicely.

The star system could be dumped though.  Everyone get 5 stars these days regardless, it seems.

Oh, and I really like the Peter Pumpkin Eater image.  And I think, that was all I said when I commented.  Does that make my comment less valid?  I doubt it.

Well said ThrommArcadia!  I agree completely.

tainted_heart - is this another one of your methods to try and get people to look at your underworked images? Geez, give it up already. :rolleyes: I remember some months ago that I placed a honest comment on your image and what fury that has caused you...stop with all this hypocrisy and just grow up!

Please discuss the issues and not the individuals... thanks folks.

Commentt on Karen. Been meaning to tell you I love your new hairstyle. You look about the same age as my daughters - 24 and 27??

i don't know about qualified.  i don't care personally how well someone else can use poser or photoshop or whatever.   a critical eye doesn't necessarily give you a skilled hand.  and hey, sometimes i just plain old overlook something that anyone with eyes can see. 

i've been thinking about this recently.  about trying to promote myself here, and start making myself more popular by commenting a lot,  asThrommArcadia mentions he has.  and i think it's a very positive thing to do (everyone deserves encouragement), but it's not going to do anything other than make me popular on this site.   which is cool and all, but i don't think i have hours to go through and comment on tons of images. i  like to say things particular to the image i'm looking at and actually say why i like the image, and that sometimes takes me a bit.

the fact of the matter is, i'd just like to be much better at this than i am now.  and i'm not going to get there without criticism.

would anyone else be open to a forming a critique group?  one where we could workshop each other's images?

You could count me in but I'm out of the loop in the coming weeks, I won't be around much, those that saw my last image know why as do my contacts here!
But sure, count me in!

awesome!

sounds good to me.  I tend to be a bit erratic sometimes but I'll give it a go

Thankyou Lee, I'm 34 this year ;-)

Anyone who wants to join a critique group... I'm happy to set this up in here. I've been chatting with the other mods about this and we figured a way to make it work for everyone:

We'll start a sticky thread in the forum here.
If you want to be part of the group, just "sign up" in that thread.
Members of the group need to give critique. It's okay to critique without having a gallery (?), but if you want to receive advice and crits, you need to be prepared to reciprocate. (Or in other words - you get what you give!)
The easiest way to keep track of the "group" would be to add the members to your faves with a note like "Critique group". Then you'll get an ebot when they upload. Alternatively you could just bookmark the group members' galleries and keep checking for new posts, but I think using faves would be easier.
I would envisage the forum thread being used for signups only, not the critique itself. But that would be flexible; if we need to change the way it works, then we can.

If you folks want to go for it then give us a "yea" and we'll make a sticky.

The alternative way would be to use google groups or something but frankly the last thing I need is more spam... :-p

Quote - @Tainted_heart:  Couldn't have said it better myself, and now we have to have it shoved in our faces on the front page of the galleries too!
It's the Hot 20 all over again!

I was never so disapointed than to see this show up on the front page of the gallery.  The top 20 was bad enough, but at least is wasn't staring me in the face evey time I browsed the gallery. 

Now, I have to see it every time I look in the gallery...........The popularity contest.

Yet another reminder.....

That i'm not part of the in crowd.....

That I don't get thousands of hits in a month......

That I don't get hundreds of ratings.....

That I don't get hundreds of comments......

I just posted a thread at ArtZone....My gallery is about to max out at 50 pics.....yet I see artists with way more pics than this in their gallery......I was pretty much told......that since i'm not "It" what ever that might be.......I won't be allowed to have a gallery larger than 50 pics. 

Yet another reminder that I'm not part of the mainstream in crowd.

Now thats not to say that I don't have a fan base. Because I do. And it is a fan base that I appreciate very much. 
My art caters to a niche audience and because it does, I have come to accept that I won't be any of those things that I am constantly reminded of, that I am not.

I take comfort in the knowledge that my art is bringing me monetary rewards, granted I spend twice as much.....but thats ok.  I would spend that much anyway.

In my experience.......I gave an honest critique once.....and only once.......and got my head bit off. That stung a lot and I have not done it again.
Now, if I give an honest critique, I email the artist first to see if they are receptive. and any critiqueing is done in private. 
There are a few artist's that I have taken under my wing and guided them accordingly. And not once have I refused to help another artist that pm'ed me and asked for my help.

Just my 2 cents.............thanks

I'll throw in my two quid.   Something along the lines of the things in this thread have been weighing on me for a while now.  I'm reluctant to put up any new work, I'm also reluctant to post honest answers in threads.   There is something to be said for reigning back the desire to verbally smack someone that desperately deserves it.  Unfortunately, if you do it, there's something wrong with you.

My opinion is rarely in the "majority".   I tire of seeing the SAME AOM on the newsletters after three years.   There are more than 10 artists at this site for heaven's sake, can we see something new?   I'm not saying the one's featured arent great........ they certainly are, but we know that already, can we move on?  Pretty please?

I also do wish that a lot of the false modesty would be dropped.  Again I wont make friends, but the "art only for myself"........ doesn't that contradict the creation of art?  If it was only for ourselves, why would we belong to an art community?   The "i don't care what people think of my art"......... is probably the largest thought against human nature I've ever seen.  Everyone likes to be told they are doing a good job.   And if no one cared, why would you put it up for others to comment on?

I'll be perfectly honest, I create art for the sake of art and what its meant to acheive.  Tell a story, entertain, and please the eyes of others.  Even ourselves...... but it is storytelling, without paper and pen.  Some people write "only for themselves" and tuck their notebooks away in a drawer.  Why then isnt this art in a drawer thats for "yourself"?.  Could it be, we really yearn for someone to see it, and see talent, creativity and give kudos?

Again, even as a hobby, if its posted in a public gallery, the idea is for others to see it, isn't it?  Or is there some train of thought that says it will be put up and magically be blotted out by the masses in humanitarian blindness and no one will see?

I'll be honest, i want critisism, good and bad.  Just not MEAN.   I don't want to hear "her thighs are too big"..............  or "her boobs are too small/big", thats personal preference, not artistic merritt.   Don't tell me a woman i do looks "like a shrew"........ chances are thats the exact idea.  Give me intellegent critique, and I'm okay.  I post images to be seen, hopefully and enjoyed.

I create art, not just through my eyes, but with the potential viewer in mind.  I may not please all who view it, but I have something to say, you either listen to the story or you don't.

Tiara, I understand what you are saying, but we all have to admit that what one person thinks is a helpful critique, others will view as an insult.

Furthermore, we all have to admit that we are not the final authorities on what is art.

I don't mind someone pointing out blatant errors or little things that might make an image better.  But, so much is subjective.

I have a friend who sees a lot of my work and he so often tries to be helpful and inevitably points out things that I just can't agree with.  He has no understanding of 3D.  He'll say things about shadows and reflections and I get into this discussion about how the computer calculates the shadows and reflections, therefore they are technically correct.

Many people get hurt over "helpful critiques" because many of the crits are unfounded or uneducated.

Furthermore, everyone should just accept the fact that Renderosity is filled with hobbiests.  People who are addicted to posting and meeting friends and traveling that path.

There is nothing wrong with that.

And, we all have to come to terms with "Pop-Art".  "Pop" is short for popular and Pop is not always the cream of the crop, it is just the most popular and most commercial.  If you want to be a commercial artist, then study what is popular, you might learn something that will help you excel (when I say you, I am not intending to single any specific person out, btw.)

I know you dont mean "me" and i again wasn't pointing out any particular individual.   Critique is fine but it doesnt have to be mean.  There is a difference between artistic critique and personal bias.

On the subject of the Critique Forum.

I think it is a fantastic idea, but I think the crits should be kept in the forum.  People outside the forum may not understand and suddenly there might be weird flame wars and such that sprout up.

An alternative (and I don't know how practical this is) is another category in the galleries specifically for Constructive Crits.  A new category and an announcement about what it is and what it's purpose is on the front page an in the newsletter might help.

I think it is a great idea, but I would want artists to be limited on how many pics they post there.  Like one a week or something.  If we are going to help each other grow, we can't be bogged down with a hundred people doing a pic a day.  That's overwhelming and under productive.  But, that might just be my opinion.

Just to address this...

I tire of seeing the SAME AOM on the newsletters after three years.   There are more than 10 artists at this site for heaven's sake, can we see something new?

As of this year, Artists of the Month have to have not won AOM in the last five years, to discourage this very problem. (I probably phrased that badly but hopefully you know what I mean.)

I also do wish that a lot of the false modesty would be dropped.  Again I wont make friends, but the "art only for myself"........ doesn't that contradict the creation of art?  If it was only for ourselves, why would we belong to an art community?   The "i don't care what people think of my art"......... is probably the largest thought against human nature I've ever seen.  Everyone likes to be told they are doing a good job.   And if no one cared, why would you put it up for others to comment on?

I agree with this. Of course I want comments on my art, otherwise I would not post it. There are a very few pieces which I have made "just for me" (or sometimes for someone else) which I haven't posted because they're private (or too rude, hahahaha!) Everything else is on public display; ergo, I want the public to see it, and hopefully comment. That said, "Wow it's great hun xxx" is a nice ego-stroke, but I really value something like "The lighting is much better than your last pic, well done" - because it shows me specifically where I've grown, what I've got right, and what I can bring to my next image.

ThrommArcadia wrote:  "Furthermore, everyone should just accept the fact that Renderosity is filled with hobbiests.  People who are addicted to posting and meeting friends and traveling that path."

That is a very good point.

I don't like the "add artist to fav list" for the critique sticky. I would suggest the artist posts that they have one to critique. They may want to post an image for fun and not have a bunch of people take it apart. Once you have posted to the critique thread you are already getting ebots, you can set your ebots for that and there is no real need for more. IMO.

Personally I think the mechanic of the commenting and favoriting system works is fine - I am just a bit annoyed to see 2/3 of the front page basically devoted to the same 9 images.  I know how to click the "next" button, or to view particular galleries of people I want to see.

karen1573 - i love the idea of a critique sticky.  if it's another forum, then no one will go there.  look at the developers forum.  i'm sure there are several people building things, but they post to the software specific forums if they want to do w.i.p. 

i definitely want the critique with the image itself.  otherwise, it's a lot less useful.  not only would having the image elsewhere make it a p.i.t.a. to critique with constantly swapping between two tabs/windows (especially with how big most images appear), it would make it less useful to receive critique and have to look back and forth.

i actually like the favorite artists feature.  that would be perfect, imho.  if i really didn't want something critiqued, i'd label it "for fun" or some such.  and in any case, i'd rather have the info than not. i think posts are already great for people who want feedback only on particular images.  the whole point of what i'm interested in would be to get regular, steady feedback on every image i post, and regularly posting feedback on other people's works.  i'm not thinking of random threads.  i'm thinking of a consistent group of artists that can rely on each other for feedback.  i'm not sure that individual threads would do that.  but i certainly don't know what would work and am willing to try just about anything.

and i want to add that i'm absolutely thrilled and very thankful that the mods are discussing ways to help this happen.

i do think there would need to be a way get out of the group.   i think some sort of key phrase in the title  would be enough to exempt an image, but getting out of the loop altogether would be difficult to automate.  well, i'd think that could be done in the sticky thread, too.

ideally, there'd be a group feature to the site, but then this would be a very, very different web app.

ThrommArcadia - i think you raise some great points, but i differ with you on some.  i personally don't think knowing 3d is crucial to analyzing a cg image.   for instance, without knowing a thing about the image you're talking about with your friend, if i received criticism on shadows and reflections, i'd know i had to do something so that they looked right.  it doesn't matter to me if the person knows 3d, because i don't think someone should have to be an expert to get my image.   in fact, i'd rather have feedback from  someone who doesn't automatically disregard problems produced by the figure or software, as i think many of us do instinctively.

it's not an issue to me that some people are hobbiests - i think that's great and i knew that when i first registered here.   but this is the only creative community i've ever been a part of where people seemed to expect nothing less than "i love it!" and 5 stars when they put their work out for public review.  and worse, it seems to be the norm of politeness.  saying someone is less than absolutely perfect should not be an insult.  

 the fact of the matter is if when work or words become public, people will have lots of different reactions.  we need to find a balance, just as we do in any social situation.

but i am personally not interested in telling anyone else what they should want.  i am not trying to say people should be treated any differently.  i don't care (or at least not much) that others are more popular than i am.  that's not false modesty, that's practicality.  right now, it takes me ages to make pictures.  i need to get better as fast as i can, and i'll be faster if my skills advance.  i'm just saying i'm really interested in some thorough critiques, and i'd be more than happy to start critiquing people who would be interested in detailed feedback.  just about the only reason, imho, to post to a hobbiest site is to receive feedback that helps advance my work.  for that  it's great to get encouragement, but i also need advice on how to improve

I have to agree with almost everything in this thread. While I do agree that art is subjective, I have seen page after page of praise for an image, for example, that had the sun on a background, was lit from the front and of the three characters, the two that were kneeling on the ground had one intercepting the ground while the other floated above it.

This was all a while ago, at another site. But when you come along after 50 people have praised the image like it's the second coming of da Vinci, you kind of figure advice is not the order of the day.

That being said, I would also be interested in joining the critiquing group. I am a hobbyist, but I'd like to know why some images get no comments-- are they really that bad, and why others do seem to pique interest.

And... Thanks for commenting :biggrin:

oh, and i don't find the present system enough. at all.  i personally never know if someone wants hand holding or a full critique.  and i don't think it's very clear to anyone else what i want just from my gallery posts.

Gnolt, drifterlee, GreyPixel - gee I thought this was an art community where people are supposed to respect each other...you seem to think it's Smack Down! Apparently you only posted in this thread to attack me. Thanks for showing people you can't keep a civil tongue in a discussion. If you don't have anything constructive to add to this thread, please take your hostility and insults elsewhere.

pjz99 - Apparently the PTB doesn't pay attention to the strong majority...unless it's the moral majority...lol! (Just kidding!) Seriously though, the Most Commented/Highest Rated are just the Hot 20 model times 2. It's still a popularity contest, and what's popular often isn't what's good.

I am fast coming to the conclusion that there isn't any answer and in the end, the cliques and mutual admiration societies will over-run the galleries.

Well, I think a lot of you are missing the obvious:  The gallery here is mainly set up to promote sales in the Rendo marketplace.  Negative comments don't help that.  Ratings of 1-3 don't help that either.  You're dealing with two major buying blocs - those who post frequently tend to buy a lot of things, e.g. me; and those who view the gallery regularly are presented with uninterrupted, opt-in advertising, and many of them will buy things also.  The opinions of these buyers as to what is moral or intellectually valuable is really of no consequence to the marketplace, only their dollars.

cobaltdream I think you missed my point completely. I meant that the artist add a post in the sticky to the image. Everyone that has added to that sticky will get an ebot. There are no extra threads or forums. There is only one ebot and that is for an image to be critique. I don't see a reason for all the different labeling. Keep it simple. 

The way some slap images up pretty much every day, there needs to be some kind of control to the ebots.Could you imagine what it would be like if we could post 3 images a day like it used to be, all those ebots? I don't know about you but I get enough as it is. Hell, there were those that thought that was the end of the world when they could only post one image a day. You know the ones, "why post one good image in a week when I can post 3 poor images every day," people.

Quote -

I am fast coming to the conclusion that there isn't any answer and in the end, the cliques and mutual admiration societies will over-run the galleries.

I'm sorry, so what was the point of this then?  Are these cliques or mutual admiration societies really taking away comments from your pictures or something that's making you so upset?

Yes, sometimes it's bewlidering to see the naked vicky with sword get a hundred million hits.  But that may be their tastes, people may know the artist and like the person.  So what?  Is it any skin off of my back?