Moderator Guidelines and Contributor Rules

[Jason Carr]

8 minutes ago, LonestarK said:

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?

The problem with censoring is that the line will constantly be pushed, and we really don't want to fight that battle. So yes, if you find nudity in the database, it needs deleted. Thanks for your help and understanding @LonestarK.

[LonestarK]

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.

[Thanatos_Prime]

9 hours ago, LonestarK said:

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.

There are thousands, if not tens of thousands of games missing data. So very many things to do with the time given us, be a good steward of the time you've been given. Remember, if it is already in the DB, it has been moderated by at least 3 people in the past and approved. I'm not saying there might not be "smut" buried in there somewhere, and possibly some things that came in before Jason made his will fully clear that still need to be cleaned out, but pick your targets.

Edited November 5, 2022 by Thanatos_Prime
Mistyped

[Dan Patrick]

As a Christian myself and recently a father I definitely know where Jason is coming from. These kinds of issues are always a bit of a grey area. I'd say most of it will be common sense as to what to delete. All the erotic visual novels have sexualized characters and stuff even besides the parts with full nudity. I'd say use your best judgement to find the less egregious characters or costumes or whatever. Again, I'd say it'll be a common sense decision. A tv commercial for a waterpark shows people in bikinis but they'd never zoom in on a boob. Obvious statements aside, thanks guys for your hard work on the DB! 

LonestarK I agree with your conclusion that the Game Over cover would be considered partial nudity.

Edited November 5, 2022 by Dan Patrick

[LonestarK]

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.

[MJF]

A good example is the C64 game called Adults only https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com/games/images/107582  . The  official boxart has images of nude women (albeit poorly drawn) So I created this from the official box as fanart for a workaround. Yet the official box was uploaded at least 3 times in the past year or so.

 

[LonestarK]

37 minutes ago, MJF said:

A good example is the C64 game called Adults only https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com/games/images/107582  . The  official boxart has images of nude women (albeit poorly drawn) So I created this from the official box as fanart for a workaround. Yet the official box was uploaded at least 3 times in the past year or so.

 

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

[MJF]

Just marked it for deletion

[Jason Carr]

I won't allow this thread to get back into a discussion as to whether or not we should allow nipples in the database. I thought I made myself perfectly clear already. We can't allow it for legal reasons, and to protect children. If someone wants to be helpful getting rid of content in our database that is problematic, then I will wholeheartedly appreciate it. If, as a moderator, you need to take a break because of the amount of annoying things to be moderated coming in, then by all means, take a break. I don't appreciate the stance of "just leave the nudity because it's annoying to moderate." I'm also not looking for an argument here, so any arguments will be met with temporary bans.

Edit: Deleted the two previous posts in an effort to discourage continued counter-productive discussion.

[MITUB3R]

If the person who wrote this is here, remind them that moderation is not a place for disrespect. If he disagrees, he is free to downvote, but not to be disrespectful. The good work of a moderator is to provide the reasons professionally.

[MJF]

10 hours ago, MITUB3R said:

If the person who wrote this is here, remind them that moderation is not a place for disrespect. If he disagrees, he is free to downvote, but not to be disrespectful. The good work of a moderator is to provide the reasons professionally.

The only time i use that as a response is when someone is LITERALLY trolling. Like those ones that try to change arcade cabinet scans into screenshots and whatnot to mess up the DB

[MITUB3R]

2 hours ago, MJF said:

The only time i use that as a response is when someone is LITERALLY trolling. Like those ones that try to change arcade cabinet scans into screenshots and whatnot to mess up the DB

In my case none of that, it was a matter of text in alternative names. A title that, for example, appears in MobyGames as an independent title since it has important changes and modifications, here it was regionalized. I have also provided all the evidence, the two MobyGames links as two independent titles, the screenshots where significant changes are seen in the gameplay. I always put the evidence of everything I request.

[kurzih]

17 hours ago, MITUB3R said:

In my case none of that, it was a matter of text in alternative names. A title that, for example, appears in MobyGames as an independent title since it has important changes and modifications, here it was regionalized. I have also provided all the evidence, the two MobyGames links as two independent titles, the screenshots where significant changes are seen in the gameplay. I always put the evidence of everything I request.

I think that's the main issue here: Alternative names. The database code has a bug where you can't see what the person has written on the comment field. Everyone time you submit a new or edit an old / remove alternative name you always see an empty comment field as a moderator.

I know that I've used "trolling" a few times this week, which I normally only use with the cases MJF described. But the reason for that was the absurd back-and-forth time wasting nonsense of the same entries, again and again. The correct word I should have used for that would have been "spamming", instead. There is a point where enough is enough. People seem to use the database comment field as a debate forum - which it's not designed for. In my part at least if that was one of my comments, there was no intent of disrespect, but a short comment of the situation at hand, instead of a long explanation.

And here's a critic for some moderators from my part as well: PLEASE, finish your moderation queue before you make new changes. Too many times have I seen someone trying to change information (like a regional tag) that someone had already changed/been approved, instead of checking from his/her queue that the change is not already in motion. That would in some level be considered as spamming, or at least a total waste of moderation time since there's no (more) change to approve.

Another point worth considering: do not blindly trust what Moby Games has, they do have mistakes/inaccuracies, and there's no point in transferring those here. It's a fan-submitted database as well. In priority I suggest using a) official sources, b) the games own sources (play the game, read what's on the front/back covers/manual) and c) use Moby Games in parallel with platform-specific fansites that are usually even more accurate. Moby Games is great, but  I'm also not 100% sure we can copy 1:1 content from there without their permission: https://www.mobygames.com/info/terms

I recently added a huge amount of missing media/entries, and I do moderation in tandem while I do that. But those cases above are one of the many reasons I'm not motivated anymore in doing this voluntary work (no pros being paid here).

I think many things would be better (and people would avoid getting personally hurt, as it looks you did - and sorry for that if that happened to be my comment) if the database would get a total overhaul in the near future.

Edited January 6, 2023 by kurzih

[MITUB3R]

On 1/6/2023 at 10:50 AM, kurzih said:

I think that's the main issue here: Alternative names. The database code has a bug where you can't see what the person has written on the comment field. Everyone time you submit a new or edit an old / remove alternative name you always see an empty comment field as a moderator.

I know that I've used "trolling" a few times this week, which I normally only use with the cases MJF described. But the reason for that was the absurd back-and-forth time wasting nonsense of the same entries, again and again. The correct word I should have used for that would have been "spamming", instead. There is a point where enough is enough. People seem to use the database comment field as a debate forum - which it's not designed for. In my part at least if that was one of my comments, there was no intent of disrespect, but a short comment of the situation at hand, instead of a long explanation.

And here's a critic for some moderators from my part as well: PLEASE, finish your moderation queue before you make new changes. Too many times have I seen someone trying to change information (like a regional tag) that someone had already changed/been approved, instead of checking from his/her queue that the change is not already in motion. That would in some level be considered as spamming, or at least a total waste of moderation time since there's no (more) change to approve.

Another point worth considering: do not blindly trust what Moby Games has, they do have mistakes/inaccuracies, and there's no point in transferring those here. It's a fan-submitted database as well. In priority I suggest using a) official sources, b) the games own sources (play the game, read what's on the front/back covers/manual) and c) use Moby Games in parallel with platform-specific fansites that are usually even more accurate. Moby Games is great, but  I'm also not 100% sure we can copy 1:1 content from there without their permission: https://www.mobygames.com/info/terms

I recently added a huge amount of missing media/entries, and I do moderation in tandem while I do that. But those cases above are one of the many reasons I'm not motivated anymore in doing this voluntary work (no pros being paid here).

I think many things would be better (and people would avoid getting personally hurt, as it looks you did - and sorry for that if that happened to be my comment) if the database would get a total overhaul in the near future.

Thank you for the reply, and sorry for the delay, I did not receive notification. There is no problem, if it has been accepted, but neither is there a way to know for sure, so there is no need for you to apologize if we cannot know. The reason for going to MobyGames is for rule 1 of "Good and acceptable websites to double-check metadata are MobyGames, Giant Bomb, Wikipedia, IGN, Steam, GOG and GameFAQs." of the sites authorized by the rules, removing Steam and GOG that do not sell it, treating the title in question as an independent game: MobyGames, GiantBomb and IGN against Wikipedia and GameFAQs that treat it as a regionalization. I understand that you can have errors in the other bases, by all means, but in this case the rules allow it, as they say, in the case of 2 authorized sites that contradict the data, it would have to be compared with a third one.

[MITUB3R]

Hello friends, I have a question about rule 2. I have appeared in the moderation link with a request to change the name of a LaunchBox entry. It is a DLC currently called here as "The Amazing Spider-Man: Oscorp Search and Destroy Pack", the applicant asked to exchange it for "The Amazing Spider-Man: Oscorp Search & Destroy Pack", it is decided, in essence to change the "and" by the symbol "&", alluding to rule 2, that the title must reflect the art of the box.

The doubt I have at the time of moderating this is that in this case it is a digital DLC, there is no physical format with an expansion box, so the only thing there is is a banner that comes with the "&" symbol , but in the Steam title comes without it.

In this case of a digital title without physical art, what priority would the title of the stores or the digital cover or banner have?

Thanks.

[Jason Carr]

Hey all, just a note that we put some significant updates and fixes into the LaunchBox Games Database website today. Please see below:

[coolspot]

Hi all,

Can you tell me what are the rules are for the Arcade Games with  "Box - Front" images?

Since arcade games often lack a physical box, many games use flyers instead. However, some MAME games are missing the "Box - Front" category, which means that there are no images available in the games list.

As a solution, I have submitted some flyers as a placeholder. However, opinions on the appropriateness of this solution are divided, with some people considering it appropriate while others do not. Nonetheless, it is common practice to use these placeholders for Box Front in many arcade games.

So what image should be submitted for Box-Front for an arcade game?

Thanks.

[kurzih]

26 minutes ago, coolspot said:

Hi all,

Can you tell me what are the rules are for the Arcade Games with  "Box - Front" images?

Since arcade games often lack a physical box, many games use flyers instead. However, some MAME games are missing the "Box - Front" category, which means that there are no images available in the games list.

As a solution, I have submitted some flyers as a placeholder. However, opinions on the appropriateness of this solution are divided, with some people considering it appropriate while others do not. Nonetheless, it is common practice to use these placeholders for Box Front in many arcade games.

So what image should be submitted for Box-Front for an arcade game?

Thanks.

If only a flyer exists, then it should be uploaded as a flyer. It works as the" front cover", thus there WILL be an image for it in Launchbox. You can also prioritize front images as you prefer (might be a premium feature though):

if you want to upload "box" covers that do not officially exists, then use the Fanart - Box - Front image type for that. Launchbox is very flexible, in most cases you will not be without images if you have proper settings. The arcade section is kind of using flyers - front images as default "Box Front", prioritizing them, since there are usually no boxed covers for arcade games. As you can see: https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com/platforms/games/5-arcade

As a side note I would suggest using the flyer tag for magazine front covers (like in C64 demotape games etc.), since those are not boxes either.

Edited April 4, 2023 by kurzih

[coolspot]

19 minutes ago, kurzih said:

If only a flyer exists, then it should be uploaded as a flyer. It works as the" front cover", thus there WILL be an image for it in Launchbox. You can also prioritize front images as you prefer (might be a premium feature though):

Good point, in the Metadata Media Downloader, one can choose "image group -> boxes" to get all valid box image types.

[bpitt]

I have a question about submitting changes.  Here is my situation:

• Game A and game B appear to be the same game from screenshots and research.
• Game A was released in 1983
• Game B was released in 1987
• Game B has game A as an alternate name as well as other alternate names

I was going to suggest deleting game A as it had less info (alternate names and publishers) but game A was released first (1983) and therefore here is my question: Should game A be the official name of the game as it was released first? 

If this is the case, I will submit deleting game B and add all alternate names and publishers to game A.