The current art chart abuse is one thing- but I think a lot of the comment spam motivation could be curbed simply by eliminating the "Highest Rated" and "Most Commented".  Clearly the same 8-10 invidiuals rotate through those criteria on a daily basis.  You can literally count on certain individuals making it there daily- just look today, look tomorrow, etc...  Clockwork. 

Not to mention how ridiculous the duplication is, where most images show up in both sections. 

Of course the easiest thing is to bypass the main gallery page and just go to "Whats new"- but if the exact same individuals are the only ones who ever show in "Most Commented" and "Highest Rated"- does it not completely defeat the purpose- whatever that purpose is? 

Personally I dont allow ratings on my images and I don't post every single day like most of these folks, because... well I just dont care- but I really do hate to see a system abused in such a way- If it were to just go away, a large part of the problem would as well- and that problem is the comment spam- and that does bother me because it is insulting to get "Excellent Work" posted by someone who didnt even bother to look at the image, then see that exact same comment from that same person posted on each image posted within a similar timeframe. 

Such a simple change in code to show 12 more of whats new instead of feeding the beast of comment spam and "The Hug Club".   People are less likely to actually favorite an image (part of the criteria for the Art Charts) than they are to post "Excellent Work" on each and every render they see. 

The fact that in my 8 years of being on this site, this or similar topics have come up so many times... well- and look at the reaction for my little "Tribute" to the comment spammers back in 2007:  http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1524749&member