LonestarK

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.

I don't think it's as clear as you say that this is just a common regional version. As mentioned, the unaltered base games were also released in these regions. So I don't think your analogy to Contra or Shatterhand or the others is as applicable here. Also, I have to refute that the only changes were a simple sprite swap for the main character. In Sapo vs the Swamp Invaders, multiple character sprites are changed, not just the main, and there's even new weapons added (Sapo Xule's stinky shoes). In Sapo SOS Polluted Lagoon, enemy sprites and powerup boosters have changed in addition to background palette changes and the player's ship sprite. But mostly I'm really concerned for the implications this has on romhacks since those are the majority of adds that I make to the database. I can think of at least a dozen romhacks for just Sonic 1 and 2, not to mention many more for popular mario series games where the only change to the game is that the main character that you play as has changed, and I can't conceive of anyone who wants a dozen different romhacks jumbled together.

Apparently different graphics, characters, and story is no longer enough to be considered different and thus warrant a separate entry. My question is, now that you've started merging different games together, what's next? Are you going to merge Decap Attack with Magical Hat no Buttobi Turbo Daibōken since they are just "retooled versions" as one adamant contributor has put it? Are you going to merge every romhack with its base game? Some romhacks have even less differences from their base game than the Sapo Xule games have with the games you've merged them with. Aren't these just "retooled" versions? Not only were the Sapo Xule games released in Brazil and Portugal, but the games you've merged them with were also released in Brazil and Portugal; And now that you've merged them together, there's no way to differentiate these separate titles in these regions. Is this the only time in gaming history where the "same game" as you put it is released twice in the same region for the same platform, except with "retooled" graphics and a different name? How is "retooled" not the same as "different"? Apparently we can merge "retooled" games together, so how is this not the same as merging "different" games together?

Under the rules this image should be deleted as well because it censors the original box.

Thanks Dan. Not sure if my common sense is common though, that's why I asked for clearer guidelines. I don't allow my children to look at pictures of women in bikinis, and everything on the list other than #17 Midriff exposure above the navel and #22 Bare upper back, will be marked for deletion as I consider it partial nudity.

No problem, I asked before deleting because there's classic games like Game Over with covers that aren't exactly nudity and most people wouldn't bat an eye over, but I think the case could be made that it qualifies as partial nudity if it includes semi-transparent clothes, pokies, or areola peekage. Anyway, I'll start sending deletion requests through the queue when I get some time later. I found 47 games so far in the database with questionable images.

Sounds a little arbitrary, but okay, I'll use my best judgement in which images to delete. Any word on replacing an offending image with a censored image? Or should we just do a complete purge?

Can I get clarification on what constitutes nudity or partial nudity? I'm about to send a bunch of image deletion requests through the queue for games like the Dead or Alive series and want to make sure I'm following the rules. Specifically which of the following is considered partial nudity? 1. Transparent or semi-transparent clothing 2. Pokies (nipple outlines on clothing) 3. Side Boob 4. Underboob 5. Cleavage 6. Side Cleavage 7. Deep Cleavage 8. Areola Peekage 9. Leg exposure above the knee 10. Leg exposure above mid-thigh 11. Bare feet 12. Whaletail (thongs/panties peeking out from under clothing) 13. Panties showing in any way 14. Bikinis 15. Microkinis 16. Slingkinis 17. Midriff exposure 18. Midriff exposure below the navel 19. Cameltoe (outline of labia on clothing) 20. Moose knuckle (bulge on clothing from penis) 21. Pubic hair peekage 22. Bare upper back 23. Bare lower back 24. Bare back below the back dimples 25. Plumber's crack / butt cleavage 26. Underbutt 27. Tanga bottoms 28. Thongs 29. G-Strings 30. Bare buttocks Also, I've seen someone in moderation say that we are not allowed to replace an offending image with one that is censored to meet the no nudity/partial nudity guideline, we must delete it entirely instead, and we aren't allowed to upload censored images. I don't see that in the written rules, so can I get confirmation on that being a rule, since I'd much rather replace the images than completely delete them as planned. Thanks. Thread seems fairly unattended, so tagging peeps in hopes of an official response. @Jason Carr @faeran @SentaiBrad

Half of the requests, the images aren't even low quality. Seems like vandalism.

1. Add Taiwan to Regions. (I've come across unique boxart, titlescreens, and carts that differ from the China and Asia versions of the same game). 2. Create a new field for "License Type". (I'm seeing a lot of games with license types like "Shareware", "PD/Freeware", "Public Domain", "Public Domain/Freeware", "Freeware" etc being listed in the Publisher or Developer fields.)

I've seen this quite a bit; I think the request is trying to remove the region tag, so changing "Fanart - Box - Front (North America)" to just "Fanart - Box - Front". I only know this from reading Reasons provided in previous moderations that mention that they are removing the region tag. Just reject it if there's no reason provided and it's unclear what they are trying to do.

Can we get Taiwan added to the regions? I'm currently uploading different carts and boxarts and running into unique Taiwan only images that are different from the same release in China or Asia.

So, on these type of games that were originally released commercially but later given to the public domain, should we add "Public Domain/Freeware" to the list of Publishers? I'm thinking specifically of games like the old ID Software or Westwood Studio games that later became freeware.

Any guidance on the hundreds of database entries that list a license type, "Public Domain/Freeware" , as a Publisher? Is this bad data that should be removed from the details page of each of the affected games, or is this part of some unwritten rule around here?