I thought it would be funny to post some scenarios to assist those who are chasing that elusive 99. I will post the 3 most important and assume that a 99 image is awesome enough to easily capture 10 or more favorites.

"Wow, I must see this in full size!!!":
This image just has to be seen in full size to get the details that the viewers are so intrigued by and has a 100% download to view ratio. It would require a user rating of 96% in order to achieve the elusive (true) 99.
**FYI: Out of the 13,232 images (and growing) on the site, 8 of them have a 96 rating, and 1 has a 97.**

The Perfect 10:
Every user who saw this image had to bow down to its eliteness. Perfect in every way, this user got a perfect 10 with every photo.
With a mere 92% view to download ratio it could easily capture a real 99 c-index.
**FYI: An image I made that just has to be seen in full size has an astonishing 111 of 128 downloads from views. This is only 86.7%**

I only do just enough to get by:
Assuming c-indexes are rounded instead of the integer taken, it would only require getting a c-index of 98.5 to show a 99. With getting just enough views and downloads, to achieve this a user would need a 9.6 average on votes, and 96% downloads.
**FYI: This should be easy, I'll have one for you in a few days.**

Is getting a 99 C-index really that important? Is anybody here just to get a highest possible rating for one of their images? I didn't know this was a popularity contest. I could have sworn it was an artistic community where we learn from each other, but members should still create what they feel inside themselves, not what others think they should create (unless they are paying 'em real good). 'nuff said. :c)

The rating isnt neccessarily about competition. The rating system is a rough estimate of the success of an image. Remember sucess, not quality. If we didnt need it, we wouldnt have it right?

With that said, I wasnt trying to start a debate. It was a joke..

You'd have to please everybody, so here's what you'd need: Start with a fractal image of a rose: one leaf in sepia tone: some blurred water and sunset colors in the background: render a doric column to stand it on and throw it together with a child's playful innocence.
That said, it's all subjective. I like or I don't like. For instance I understand cubism, but I don't like it. off topic but Did you hear about the janitor at the Museum of Modern Art who threw out the bag of trash? The artist was outraged. The janitor recovered it but it was damaged so the 'artist' had to make a new one. Not a Joke it was on NPR the other day.

you are one step closer to creating perfection!
more power to ya