Artwork Commissions in cox vs other MMORPG's

It is obvious from the people here and the number of artists that patrol these forums that cox has a large following for commissioned artwork here. Is this typical of a long standing mmo or something different because of the massive char generator that the devs have given us (as well as the comic subject). I have played a few other mmo's, but have never really contributed to the forums other than here.

I am also asking this because when I look at mmoart or darkjedi's new site, or other artisists here they have mainly COX stuff there. Also other mmo's certianly have fan pic sections, but to me (I could be wrong) seems much more dynamic with new additions on a very regular basis. So is COX unique in people getting pics of their chars to this levelover other mmo's?

Commissions have always been a pretty big part of the comic industry culture, so it makes sense that a comic-based game would spawn the same type of freelance works. There's tons of fan art out there from all sorts of games. But as far as commissioned fan art goes, I think the fact that CoH/V allows you to customize your character to a more detailed degree than most MMOG's is what makes players relate/connect with their characters enough to want to capture their essence through art. The bio/backstory element alone allows you to really sink into that character.

Oddly enough though, commissions weren't even a thought in this community this time last year, lol. I remember that there may have been a sketch or two here and there, but this forum was mainly full of screenshots. All it really took was that first attention-grabbing request, and it was like a chain reaction started. More and more players started to request character art, and more artists started coming out to take requests. It really amazes me to see how busy this section has become in a fairly short time.