I wanted to comment on the discussion white crocus from Johanna but has it no longer relates to the discussion between jon and joost I decided to put it in a separate thread. First of all I want to say that this site is great and so is everyone on it. As far as the rating system, it all depends on how you view it. At first I had problems with it as I did not agree with a lot of the ratings on some of my pictures and other people’s pictures. After analyzing my own gallery (sorry if I really only use my pictures as an example) I believe a person should not use a pictures rating as evaluation on how people respond to the photograph. I believe a better determination of user response would be the number of downloads and views. I make it a general practice to delete any photographs in my gallery that receive a rating less than 60 after a few weeks but I do not look at the rating as user response. I think that most people don’t even click on a photo to view it at all unless somehow the picture strikes their interest. If they open it and the photo does not please them as much as they had hope then they give it a low rating. If it still compels them they will download it and give it a better rating. I do not agree with the user bias for photo ratings. I do keep up with some of my favorite artists on this site, ones that have uploaded some of my favorite images and constantly deliver quality photographs, ie mayne, Yenom, ppigeon. But I honestly believe that ratings are handed out on a photo by photo basis. I am not a popular member on this site, and although I have been a member for a few yrs I have only submitted photos for a few months and my Karma is under 50. I am inexperienced, I got my first low quality digital camera last winter which I still use, and the first time I ever used Photoshop was a few months ago in the image Reflections. Yet I still have some high rated photography. Also my girlfriend gabi has posted the photo Stream, one which she just took along with 24 other random pictures, and I spent about 5 minutes editing minor details. The photo managed to achieve a rating of 97 and a good amount of downloads even though most of her images do not, and she never comments or really browses any of the other pictures on the site. I think that if you are looking for personal satisfaction from the response to your picture, you should focus more on the views, downloads, and comments. If a person views your image, or goes even further to download it or comment on it, then they have been affected by your work. Reflections is my highest rated photo and probably the highest quality photo as well, but my most downloaded photograph is Fantasy Pathway which only recently reached a rating over 90, and Shimmering Waters which is a relatively poor quality picture, as reflected by its rating, but is still liked and downloaded because of its content. As I want my gallery to be of high quality photos I do delete the lower rated pictures but I still gain the most satisfaction from views and downloads. You just have to understand that everything is based purely on taste, I don’t view, rate on comment on a lot of the abstract art, because I really don’t understand a lot of it. Most people I feel are like this, not many people click on an image just to give it a bad rating. And as kjh000 pointed out, my favorite photo Abandonment is actually one of my lower rated photographs. But I understand that not everyone views things as I do, this picture simply does not attract enough attention upfront, as shown by its half as many downloads as views, like you were pointing out. I genuinely believe that rating on this site is perfectly fair and more unbiased than most places on the web; if anyone still disagrees I would like to hear and understand why.
I understand that artists are sensitive about their work, your creations are important to you and all of them are special in your own eyes. Low ratings and poor results are what comes with opening up to the general public; criticism of any type can only be helpful. Thank you for listening, hope I didn’t make this too wordy

One thing I've noticed is overzealous use of the 10 rating.. that's why there're way too many pictures at the 99 spot.

I don't think it really matters as long as all the images that are rated 99 are of excellent quality... which I think they are...

quite - and as the 10 rating is actually only described as a 'good' mark - i'd say a lot of images qualify for it.

I know I rate higher than average on most all but appreciate all aspects. Know what you mean and can understand but so far I think the rating system has been debated and its where it should be. Just my two cents

Something I noticed about my own rating habits is this: I only click on thumbnails that appeal to me, so if I rate any photo, it is automatically one which I like. Therefore any rating at all is naturally going to be higher than 5, or else I wouldn't click on the photo in the first place.

This is the point I was trying to make. People shouldnt be upset if their pictures dont get 99 ratings, just if their pictures dont get viewed much atall.