Just curious as to why this qualitative assessment of comments was eliminated.

I think it's been replaced by the "Most active members" list which combines the number of comments wiith the number of votes. I guess that way it encourages people to focus on both.

In the thread I started HERE the changes in the "Most Active Members" list were explained graciously in clear detail. I feel that I am now posing a different question about a now extinct list. Thanks for your answer, Samatar, but it seems to me that the whole flavor of commenting has shifted from qualitative (found under Top Commenters) AND quantitative (a category in Most Active) to merely quantitative no matter how you look at it. :)PJ

I beleive that the "Top commentors" list merely measured the number of comments that an individual had posted, I don't think it was any measure of quality unless I have missed something somewhere.

Actually after reviewing that other post you linked to I think caedes answers the question there:

"It (ie the new "Most active members" list) also doesn't allow someone to dominate the list by scoring an extreme number in any one field. In other words it promotes well-roundedness."

...whereas the old "Top commenters" list allowed you to be on top simply by making a whole stack of short comments (such as "Nice pic") and didn't require you to put much time or thought into it. I'd say that was why it was removed.

There were often people who had more comments on the "Most Active Members" list than those who appeared in the top ten on the "Top Commenters" list. Thanks for your help anyway :)PJ

just wondering... am i the only one disturbed by this entire concept as a whole? are we commenting to win a race, or to participate as members of a sharing community...? i think guaging activity with numerical values can rather quickly deteriorate otherwise healthy motives.

perhaps i'm in a minority of one, and of course, someone's bound to be offended by what i write here (not intentional, but it seems to work out that way) but what about the people who more actively vote, or contribute work, as opposed to writing comments? is their activity now a less important one, and therefore unworthy of mention? mathematics and statistics all play very important roles in many facets of our lives, whether we're aware of it or not. so i'm not knocking that. but... having our comments broken down into raw quantity of letter count? i'm thinking the site's bandwidth could be put to better use.... just one member's opinion...

I agree with Third Eye. He's worded it much better than I, and that is what I was trying to convey with my quality vs. quantity concept and why I was disappointed to see that the quality measure as reflected in the "Top Commenters" list had to give way to the mere counting of bytes per contributor. Thanks, Rob for conveying the message much better than I :)PJ

The original list no more gauged the quality of comments than the current list does. The only difference was that the original list did a zip compression of the comments before counting the length. I did this (the zip compression) mainly as a little experiment in information theory.

Neither of these lists are meant to be an integral part of the site, and I hope that is reflected in how little the page is publicized. I'm just interested in stats about the site and I thought I'd make the page available to those who have a similar interest.

Lol, i like how caedes says "as a little experiment in information theory." ...hmm, so this site was just a school project eh? >_> Funny how things work out.

I don't even bother to look at that list, it doesnt interest me to see who comments, votes etc. the most.. as for scoring for the length of a comment.. I much rather have a short comment that is helpful than a long one that just goes on and on about nothing just so they can get their name at the top of the list... Bet this will turn into the old arguements like that forbidden word *c-index... eg.. why does such and such have a higher rating than me when I write more dribble than them... LOL... (sorry.. signed tired and cranky =P ..)

No matter how it's set up...there will be some who love it, some who hate it, some indifferent.
I am trying to establish what works for me now....and not to be selfish, just to adjust things in a manner that works with my way off lifestyle. I will vote always, because I care. I do want to work towards any way the system is set up, because it won't help for me to NOT try just because I may not like certain aspects. I will comment now....mainly on NEW IMAGES so that I am fairly distributing my free time on EVERYONE randonmly...and not focusing on only my friend list. { I love all my friends...and yes...I worry they feel neglected and abandoned when I miss their latest postings}...but I am enjoying a bit less stress...knowing I am seeing the new artists too. On days when I have more "spare" time, I will do all I can to catch up on my friends work too.
I will clean out my gallery when I have time...and delete the ones I see that truly suck....and post more that truly suck......:) I like my Caedes Family and think there are way too many who fail to enjoy the site as it is intended...and worry too much about C-Index and competition.

If the list encourages a few people to make some more helpful comments or vote a bit more, then it's a good thing. I don't think it's worth worrying about.

This the sort of thing I was hoping for as opposed to the top commentors page. As you say, it is more well rounded (and it keeps everything on one page). And Mr. Caedes, you still get your statistics too. Cool, I like the solution.