funny enough, a friend and i were discussing the Rendo of old after reading the last couple of short paragraphs in the article regarding MP changes.

and i'll agree with whoever said that this place does not feel like the Rendo a number of us remember.

some things that were said during my discussion revolved around how back in the day, as it were, people were more freely giving of their knowledge and experience, willing to share such things [without someone having to pay them for the priviledge], and how there was a deeper sense of an actual community between people.  these days, it seems that it is a popularity contest more than anything, but the site has been rigged to encourage that if you look at it.  everything is weighed and measured via likes, art charts, trending, etc... and while certain types of competition are rather healthy and aide in keeping people striving ahead and inspired, much of what is currently happening does not seem to 'feed the soul'...

i'm not naive enough to not recognise that yes, there were issues, even back then, but they did seem to be as rampant as they are today...

personally, i typically do not leave comments on people's work because i do not believe in the tit-for-tat mentality where if i comment on someone's image, then they come comment on mine.  that is NOT why i comment.  same goes for favouriting an image or following someone.  i do those types of things because i truly care and want to, not because i'm looking for some kind of validation in return.  and as far as commenting, i see images i could leave constructive feedback upon, but yea, then it turns into a witch hunt, taken far out of context, seen as negative rather than trying to be helpful... so mostly, commenting in that way seems rather pointless - people just seem to want to be told how awesome they are and it has become more about validating people than about the art itself.  not trying to sound like a drama queen, as i sincerely despise drama, but from a creativity perspective, it hurts that the art is getting lost.

the greatest sense of community that i've experienced here most recently has been when i was somewhat participating in Rhol's AI Thread.  i'm not an AI kind of person, but i liked, and want, that kind of sense of community that that thread has - folks helping each other, feeding off each other's idea, having fun, sharing stuff... it's an absolutely brilliant thread... [thanks, P]

i like the idea of dumbing down this whole 'weighed and measured' aspect of this site, making it more about the art, the creative process...

i do like having the likes/favourites stuff hidden except to the OP... smart smart idea, that

we used to have so much more diversity here as well in terms of artists and the tools they used, larger populations of Vue, Bryce, Terragen, etc type users, and more traditional artists, more writers, and well, just more diversity.  i know some software has gone sub-based, so p'raps your average hobbyist can't afford that steep steep price say for Vue - i get that, but maybe some thought into how to attract a more varied audience could help, if at all possible...

i think limiting the number of posts, no matter how bruised and bloody that horse might be, is a valid point... though, i don't want you to get cold in the parking lot either, Wolf...

i don't agree with being rewarded for commenting - my fear is that would just lead to heaps of vapid comments, but i think constructive feedback should be more encouraged, and i think some of that could be fostered through the mods... being a mod on this site can be tough at times, it's difficult to make everyone happy, but removing a comment that's not a trolling one just because the artist took it too personally is not a good idea [and yes, i've seen this happen more than once, tbh]

on a different note, something else that was mentioned in my conversation was how too many ads on this site do not revolve around art [just a side note as the site needs the revenue]

like Rod, this is my 'home', has been for over 20 years at this point, and i DO care, though at times, i wish i didn't...