LonestarK

Thank you for your contribution but I believe it is muddying the point. These games were not duplicate entries on separate platforms; these games were completely deleted from the database. And the image files are now completely lost. Changing the platform field in the games entry from any one OS to PICO-8 is a forgivable mistake, completely deleting an entire game entry rather than correct that one field is vandalization of the database.

I can provide a reason when making changes to images, but there doesn't seem to be a way to enter a reason when editing fields in the details page.

The following games have been deleted from the database. Who submitted the deletions? What reasons were provided? Who approved the deletions? There is a very limited set of valid reasons to delete anything from the database. Games List: Brutal Pico Race Freezing Knights Frog King Get Out of This Dungeon Ghost Detective Gifts on Venus Golf Sunday Into Ruins Just One Boss Kalikan Low Mem Sky Marballs Marballs 2 Motion REC Mot's 8 Ball Pool Ozelotl Rocket to the Top Snow The Adventures of Jelpi The Merciless Deep The games were released via lexaloffle.com for the PICO-8 platform and released via itch.io for the Windows, OS X, and Linux platforms. The LaunchBox database had these games under the Linux platform just a few weeks ago. I checked to see if the entries had simply been moved to the PICO-8 platform, newly implemented to the database, by someone who mistakenly believes that the game was only released to just the PICO-8 platform; This is not the case, these entries have been completely deleted.

Any thoughts on whether VR movies such as the one at the link below should or should not have entries in the database? https://store.steampowered.com/app/500380/UNCORPOREAL__Fluffy/

I too would like to add this platform to the db. edit: If anyone else wants the multitude of missing platforms added to the database, please vote on the issue to be made a priority: https://bitbucket.org/jasondavidcarr/launchbox/issues/6461/adding-missing-platforms-to-the-games

collaborations happen. Also some studios may begin development that then gets completed by another but the first group's work was so fundamental that they still get credited.

They have different publishers, Froggo, John Sands, Panda, Zellers, & Tang's. The developer is the same: Sancho. And every title screen from each of these different regions/re-releases features Sancho's copyright.

I haven't come across one of your requests in the queue, but I can think of a few reasons why you might get a rejection, just looking at the links you posted above; let's use this one as an example: Guitar Hero On Tour: https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com/games/images/6517-guitar-hero-on-tour Original: New Submission: Possible Rejection Reasons: 1. Adding an extra cart image with no real variation / Adding a Duplicate Image (Should be a replacement of original image) 2. New Submission has smaller dimensions than original 3. New Submission's sticker is slightly out of focus / lower quality than original The original image isn't great, so I think an argument can be made for replacement. The original has a color palette that needs correction, it shows physical damage, and the sticker placement is slightly askew. The new submission having smaller dimensions isn't a dealbreaker for me, but being out of focus is. Personally I don't care if the cart image is an actual photograph or just someone's photoshop, as long as it's accurate and it looks good. And as far as "why not both?", I think some would argue it inflates bandwidth, storage size, and potentially inconveniences the end user to sort through multiple cart images. I think this inconvenience can be avoided with a new cart recon image type. JereBear's solution may be the best until that gets implemented.

Please add J2ME to the list of platforms. There's over 1000 games that could be added to the database under the Java 2 Micro Edition platform. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_Platform%2C_Micro_Edition https://www.mobygames.com/platform/j2me/ I'd like to add some art assets to the db that are unique to Vivendi Games's version of Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail released on the J2ME platform in 2007.

Anyone want to take a crack at remaking this logo? Thanks in advance.

experiencing the same pending issue. attempting to change this box top from a banner to a box spine.

Pretty sure multiple users in multiple threads have said that your issue with retroachievements would be resolved if you added the subset title as an alternate name to the base game.

Okay, so would an alternate name work or does it have to be a primary? Forgive my ignorance; I don't use retroachievements.

I don't quite understand. It sounds like you haven't tried adding the name as an alternate name on the original game entry in the database; on the basis that you don't want to litter the database with alternate names, but you're okay littering the database with duplicate game entries. It's my understanding that RA loads trophy sets based on the hash value of the rom/iso, not the name of the rom/iso. Sounds like there's an issue with the playlist you're trying to share.

Have you tried adding "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock [Subset: Expert Full Combos]" as an Alternate Name on the Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock game entry?

These merges have only started in the last few weeks, and have now spread to the attempted merging of completely different games that share nothing in common other than having the same name in different regions. Multiple users have voiced legitimate concerns and gave examples of the negative consequences that merging has on the database. Consequences that include the inability to differentiate which information is for which of the different games contained within the single entry (information like release dates, developers, publishers, and even game type, in cases such as Edd the Duck, an unreleased but leaked game); the inability to provide unique videoURLs for each of the different games showing the different gameplay/graphics or provide unique descriptions/overviews for each game's story and history; the increased burden on LaunchBox's end users to sort through the jumbled entry to determine which portion of the overview, which images, and other information applies to which game; as well as other concerns and consequences touched upon in this thread alone. These concerns and consequences have been dismissed out of hand by a single user, with the misconception that we just always merge games around here, always have and always will. Said user, as a means of blocking further discussion, makes blanket statements insinuating that these matters have long ago been settled, but without actually referencing any specific discussion, link any topic, show any kind of statement from anyone with authority, or even quote an official guideline or rule. He uses a "just because" fallacy to protect his own misguided status quo bias, one that might not even be based on an accurate interpretation of the status quo. All of this is incredibly poor form when discussing any matter, and does not foster cooperation or debate. This user then proceeded to merge even more games together when other users illustrated that his reasoning was flawed and provided examples where different games of similar circumstances were not merged. Said user has a mistaken understanding of the concepts of "same" and "different", as well as a misunderstanding of the moderator guidelines and contributor rules. Rule 3 states: Rule 3 was created to merge multi-disc games which previously had an entry for each disc, and greatest hits/platinum type games which were just re-releases of their base game, but with an exception for special editions that were different from their base games and would thus maintain their own entry. It was not created for merging different games. One of the keystones of LaunchBox's core mission statement is to make your games beautiful, another is to provide the end user with an easy-to-use frontend to easily organize without being forced to customize. The added burden to the end user as a result of this user's merges are in violation of both of these tenets. Furthermore, said user's own "merge it all" policy is inconsistent, and leads to an inconsistent experience for the end user. Why, under said user's policy, are we to ration and jumble official entries or even some unreleased prototype entries, but provide a much better service for romhacks? I ask that all moderators stop participating in the merging of these games, as it has clear negative effects on the database and its end users, it violates the core principles of the LaunchBox frontend, and it has no basis in the moderator guidelines and contributor rules.

We're Back was regionalized as We're Back in Italy, Bamse in Sweden, Baby T-Rex in Germany, and was to be regionalized in the UK as Edd the Duck, but the UK version wasn't officially released. Three regionalizations for three different regions. There was no crossover on these. You're relying on the ambiguity that these different regions are all on the same continent.

Except it's not the same scenario. In none of your examples were the games released twice within a single region, once in its unmodified form and then again in a modified form.

Have you tried adding the name as an alternate to the base game rather than creating a duplicate game entry?

Exactly. It's unprecedented. Doki Doki/Super Mario USA is the closest analogy of releasing a regionalized version and an unaltered version within the same region, and even that was only released for the Famicon disc add-on.

One of the sticking points for me on why I can't consider these titles just regionalizations is that the regions in question (Brazil & Portugal), released the base games in their unaltered forms and then released the modified games years later. This is similar to Japan releasing Yume Koujou Doki Doki Panic in 1987 then Super Mario USA in 1992.

I didn't moderate your particular change request, but I would have rejected it as well for the following reasons: 1. It's attempting to overwrite a different fanart background. Fanart can be exactly that: fan art; Official artwork from official sources is fine in this category, but by no means a requirement or even a priority. If you want this particular fanart background deleted, you'll have a better chance by submitting a separate deletion request and provide your reasoning that the artwork doesn't represent the game or even make the argument that the one guy's shirt contains text. 2. Text or logos containing text is not allowed in fanart backgrounds because it interferes with clear logos that are overlayed on the backgrounds in launchbox. Having said that, had I seen this change request come in, after rejecting it, I probably would have re-uploaded your image without the text myself because it would have only taken me 2 seconds to photoshop the logo text out of the image since it's just a solid color behind the text. But this is going beyond what a moderator is expected to do. I appreciate you bringing this issue to our attention though, since it highlights that moderation can be inconsistent sometimes. We can definitely strive to be better.

If you're unsure how to handle any change request, (not just those related to this Sapo Xule fiasco), rather than approve or reject, click the skip button and allow one of the other moderators to handle the request.

It allows you to select the version or the region? Because with the merge, there are two versions for Brazil, and two versions for Europe (Portugal).

And you're ignoring the fact that two different versions were officially released in the same region. I think we've both made our points. Let's hear if anyone else wants to weigh in. My reason for creating this thread is to help our moderators make a more informed decision on the changes we've seen ramrodded through the queue as of late. And I hate to see that those change requests have escalated to threats written in game titles and overview entries. Ultimately it's up to all of the moderators to draw the lines on what constitutes a significant enough difference to keep separate entries, and not the tirades of a few contributors going back and forth in an edit war.