I don't know man, lets look at the Topaz thread again and see how you feel about it =p
Pretty much this.
If someone makes a unique tool to capture art, then for the time being, I can see them wanting to explore said tool to its extent before making the tool public. There's a two way feeling of pride, and jealousy when someone uses something you make to out class you, and there's a sense of anger when they use it to make garbage.
Kind of like the quote, "When everyone's super, no one is." (Incredibles)
If I find an awesome way to do something, I'll personally share it, but not before getting my few unique shots in before someone else does it and it's no longer significant to me.
It's natural human behavior to assume that someone who has something you don't is only doing it out of selfishness, but it's simply not true. Right now, I can immediately tell you which screenshots are Unreals, or Confidence Man, or even Stallion Free to an extent. It's the set up, and the tools, and the style that makes people unique, and otherwise you are less distinguishable. That's reason enough for me to keep an edge over others if I have one.
Anyways, here's more of my stuff.