As the Original Poster...I dropped out of the thread after the mod not only allowed the intentional disruption and attempted hijacking of the thread with the cat pictures...she did it herself. I find that just plan rude, and I suspect, a TOS violation. Certain members do this all the time...they see a discussion they don't approve of and the next thing you know it's hijacked and flooded with cat pictures.

As far as the critique cabal...if you want to be a part of it, feel free. My primary point was that there are too many cliques stroking each other whether the images deserve it or not. The Most Commented and the Highest Rated are just the HOT 20 with different names. There's no point to them and they should be removed from the front page. The are not representative of the highest quality artwork on the site in most cases. We need more honesty and fewer "mutual admiration societies". There was a discussion about the new thumbnail rule in which a mods stated to the effect that the site needed to look more professional...yet they create the Most Commented and Hightest Rated and the Art Charts which are still nothing more than popularity contests...and popular doesn't alway add up to good.

It's all fun and games...
Until the flying monkeys attack!!!