Ok, this is my official rant.
There have been a lot of levels submitted to goofans as of late, and before we have tons more like this, let me make this clear:
WE LIKE CREATIVE ADDINS
If you've gotten an addin published recently, you're fine, but if you had to beg and plead with me/another mod to publish it, you're not fine. I'm not talking about slight problems with addins and stuff like that; I'm talking about levels that look like Going Up and have about the same depth of gameplay. I particularly despise such levels.
I know, I know, not all of my levels are full-fledged, huge, and amazing either, but a little bit of ingenuity goes a long way when you're making a level. Compare the ratings people gave Keep on Running vs the ratings people gave Going Up v2 (sorry, iloveportal, if you're reading this). I think that if you play these two levels and compare them, you'll see why they got the ratings they did. Keep on Running is clever to a devious point; goomatz researched ball properties to create rocket launcher and Z-product beam (I'm not sure what exactly the real names of these Goo Balls are, but they're cool) Goo Balls that look awesome and act awesomer. He coupled these with some brilliant geometry that interacts and fits together in different ways than anyone had seen before. And this level is a sequel to a level that was awesome in the first place.
Now let's talk about Going Up v2, where people had to suggest for iloveportal to expand on the level idea more (Take a look at version 1 first, to see what the problem was). What is there creative and new about this level? Nothing, really. The description says it all, really: "The "Going Up" level using gold balls from the "Sandbox" level with inverted color. These balls stretch farther than normal balls. Yes I know this sucks."

So, how do you get creative? I'll admit that the first version of my first level wasn't that creative either. It takes practice. And knowledge and skill that only comes from modding more. So don't give up! But don't expect us to be overwhelmed by the awesomeness of your first level or two. In fact, don't upload them unless you personally think that your first levels are the most epic levels ever created. Take some time and build up your skill. Rather than creating a bunch of simple, small levels, think of ways you can combine these ideas into bigger, more fun ones. Don't be discouraged if we don't like your level. We just have over 400 levels on this site, with more practically every day, so it's rather difficult to impress us at this point. If you do get a level published, and it gets low ratings, ask people what they don't like about the level and be prepared to take some constructive criticism. If they say anything too derogatory, I'll be sure to delete their posts.

I know you guys can be creative, because I've seen some really awesome stuff on the Minecraft server. Goomodding just takes practice in order to get good and creative at it. To quote Daft as Brush from here: "Once you've finished.... Polite request: Please don't all upload your "My First Level" levels.. we'll have hundreds of 'em."

We've already got quite a lot of this kind of "My First Level"s on this site already, since as moderators we've been rather kind and merciful. BUT NO LONGAH! Haha, kidding. But honestly, for those who have created more than one level already, we expect more from you.

To sum it up: You guys are awesome. You have incredible imaginations, now use them! You don't have to have a severe amount of technical knowledge, and create a level that's insanely wild with ridiculous geometry, but a little bit of creativity goes a long way.

I'm done ranting. Keep cool, and remember that everyone's a winner, and MOM knows best.

Love,
MOM