Yes, you are correct in that users have the choice of whether to allow comments and if they do select the critical choice then they should expect and accept them, as long as the comments themselves are critical in a helpful way.

I wasn't really intending to give any examples of the gulity parties by name on this forum as I don't want people ganging up on anyone in particular. I hoped the outcome of this forum would be that people who do post these types of comments would just take a deep breathe before posting and think carefully about how they word their comments and appreciate how they would feel if they were on the receiving end.

To give one very general example I have seen comments on a number of nautical images that rip the artists work to shreds and when you check the persons gallery who left the comment there are no images to back up what they say.

The concerns raised about ratings is that it's annoying for people to see comments such as 'superb image' and 'excellent work' on their work and then to see their rating go down as a result of that comment. The 2 just don't make sense.

All it takes is a bit of common sense and a little thought.