The most popular dimension in Rift with 4650 recommendations is New Eyecandy Spaceship Slide 4.0 by Cariina on Greybriar. It beats all other dimensions by more than a thousand votes and it’s popularity keeps growing.
Four years after the release of dimensions, the positions on top don’t change much. Once a dimension reaches the top three in the shard listings, they earn a few votes each week without the need for promotion by their owners, keeping their position on top safe.
The early years were different, the struggle to reach first position was fierce and filled with less savoury practices. When the suggestion to wipe votes appears on the forums these days, I wonder if the people doing so think it an opportunity to to put their own dimensions on top of the listing. If so, Eyecandy is an excellent example of the effort required to reach the top and stay there.