Hi,
This is an interesting point, and I think (my opinion, for what it's worth...)  that several factors are invololved. Programs improve, the default ("make art") settings improve, there are more tutorials out there, the standard and expectations are different, etc.  On the other hand, there were a lot of very talented artists who posted here previously, who we haven't seen for a looooooong time. Why did they stop posting? Well there are several possible reasons, they are not necessarily part of this thread.
I am also not totally convinced that the standard is increasing more than what the standard default settings allow.... this is not a problem, just "I'm not totally convinced" - on the other hand, it doesn't bother me at all. We have a lot more postings than even a couple of years ago - this is very good. On the other hand, should we compare the postings to the quality to the software advances? - dunno, don't care.

Happy Easter
Rob