...The latter parts of this thread kind of surprised me a little... I basically idolize the women with epic camscores... Every fokken day I'm checking out the top girls on MFC and SM.. because I figure that especially as I'm starting out, if there's anything I can learn, it'll be coming from those at the top, however it's definitely not going to be: copying or damning their makeup; damning either her or myself for not being older, or younger, or whatever. It'll be their set-up, their lighting, their attitudes, their games / raffles, their interactions, their cam quality, the way they deal with trolls, the way they thank tippers... All of these things, I find it difficult not to admire them.
The ones who you see who you think don't make as much effort as you, with honesty, might not need to make as much effort anymore because they've worked their way up to such a high degree in the past, and gained such huge popularity, following and prestige in the process of working hard, that some guys would pay just to be noticed, and have their words or requests acknowledged by these women. I've seen comments on these women's profiles from guys who seem positively starstruck just because he got a private show by a certain camgirl. Also keep in mind their followers and fans may be getting alerted as to when she comes on cam each time. I don't believe that that kind of fanbase just automatically comes with doing sod all, or comes over-night.
I like to think of these women as my co-workers and potential friends of the future as opposed to people I'm in this cut-throat competition with. Keep in mind that men will always have their unique preferences, which benefits us all, really; looking at the top women on MFC right now, it's pretty reassuring to me to know that not all men want the lusciously huge boobies that I ain't got, and that guys tastes are as varied as our bodies, ages, styles, etc. We really would be fools to write them all the top camgirls off as fakes or cheaters or whatever, and only harm can come from feeling intense competition or venomous envy.
I figure you need to be confident enough in your own skin for this work, so if the merest sight of a rocketing camscore is consistently causing you agro, as opposed to inspiration, it might be time to step back a little (or step it up, a little, by allowing yourself to be inspired). I can absolutely imagine that some nights I'm going to be giving all I've got for a room full of nobody, and log off scowling at either my camscore or camscores of others - fluctuation in views seems to be just part of this job - but just keep in mind on a bad day, that there are actually no boundaries as to how many fans you can get if you put the work in. I'm prepared to consider that on bad nights, it's just going to be even more exciting and adrenaline-fuelled when I get good nights - and I think that surely excitement and a little healthy adrenaline can only be good things when it comes to being on camera.
There will always be girls out there with a higher camscore than you, and even if you do manage to obtain the highest camscore in the entire history of MFC, you won't be there forever. It isn't everything, and beating yourself up over it is even less. Taking some serious notes from the girls who are absolutely slamming MFC with their merits, however, is probably a good place to start though.