I consider the ranking as a slight detail in what makes Renderosity, and the Carrara part of it, so very worth the visit. The comments are what make it nice to post a picture. But sometimes I don't even tick the particular box because I just want to show (off) something I did. A lot of times I forget to post things I create, a lot of them are for clits, or not what I expected.

The main reason why I don't give a flying duck about the ranking myself is because hardly anybody ever gives a bad one. And, besides that, I think only the top three choices are used, because it is a good way to express one's enthousiasm about a posted image.
But then again, the ranking is non-explainatory (huh? explain that?), so you don't know if someone ranks 'excellent' because they never have seen such beautifull clouds, don't have a clue how to ever do that themself, are totally awestruck by the originality of the concept or maybe the neighbour of the maker.

It is an additional way to express oneself, but I once was thrown off of Renderotica because I started to holler at the work that was way below something worth putting online (in my eyes) and everybody was applauding it in the comments. I did that for two nights, I was really annoyed by the content, but more by the low standard that was held for the quality (we are talking Poser here, so there is a difference, but I could not believe my eyes). If I see work that I do not like, I do not rank nor speak. When I think I can tell the maker something usefull, or if I am really blown away (happens often here) I tend to make a comment and maybe a ranking.

One can not see who the maker is, and how important the work is for him or her. Sometimes people seem so full of themself and almost bursting with pretentions, that I am almost seduced to throw a virtual egg. But who knows, maybe it is made by a 14-year old that is fighting puberty, pimples, parents and peer pressure (how's that for alliteration!) and found a way to express himself.

I enjoy applause, but I enjoy thoughtfull comments and hints and tips from people I consider mates, and that are making work that I appreciate. My last pic gave way to some comments that I used to make version 2 of the render, with some tweaked textures. This weekend version 3 will probably see the light because I still want to change something someone mentioned in the comments. Because I agree.

(now I have a dual G4 mac and Carrara3 I again manage to do over-night renders, 1500x1500 pixels, that make the end result something of a surprise. I guess one tends to raise the render bar faster than Arnie raises taxes)