I think the ratings system should be simplified to include just three images, pickable from a list:- (1) a steaming dog turd (2) a shrugging monkey (3) a bar of gold That way even if your pics are rubbish, you can still have a laff ;) But seriously, whether words or numbers or 1-5 or 1-100, a free ratings system can only be taken as a vague indication of worth purely because of the varied talents of those voting. If you accept this then fine. If you don't like it, then as archetype says, don't use it. IMHO the only method of introducing real robustness to the ratings system would be to introduce respect voting (where the actual ratings are weighted dependant on the "respect" value of the voter) but as this is a pain in the ass to implement and isn't suited to sites with high member fluctuations, it's probably best to leave it as it is. Probably...