Contribution & Moderation Tips

[Privacy]

I may add more as I come across them.

 

Esteemed Contributors, please attempt to adhere to the following when attempting to change or add new information (screenshots/art are usually exempt):

• PROVIDE SOURCES!!!!!!
• Best to provide at least 2 sources, for more information on Primary and Secondary sources please visit https://libguides.merrimack.edu/research_help/Sources.
• ESRB rating should never be changed to the blank option, instead pick "Not Rated". For more information please visit https://www.esrb.org/ratings-guide/, https://www.tidewatergames.com/esrb-ratings-guide, and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entertainment_Software_Rating_Board. If the game was made prior to September 16, 1994 there will be no ESRB rating, thus select "Not Rated". In addition, all ROM hacks and Homebrews haven't been rated by ESRB. The blank option is for when adding a game if you don't know the answer and don't have time to look it up.
• All ROM Hacks won't have a Publisher, they do have a Designer, sometimes multiple.
• Most Homebrews won't have a Publisher, rare exceptions.

 

Humble Moderators, please attempt to adhere to the following when accepting or rejecting changes:

• Reject, if no sources are provided (unless you have the time to search for sources to verify each change that doesn't provide sources).
• Be responsible by clicking that link to verify that the link is associated with the entry/content it is attached to.
• Pay attention to details, especially requested changes of any images.
• If the requested ESRB Rating change is to the blank option, reject it.
• If the requested change has "No Reason Provided" be wary and the majority of the time refer to the first bullet point (exceptions are most screenshots/art).

Suggested changes to https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com:

• Display username of the contributor next to the requested change in moderation queue.
• Display username of the contributor next to the current information in moderation queue.
• Show somewhere which moderators approved/rejected content changes (accountability).
• Don't allow users to see this:  it shouldn't be a competition (even if you can only see your own numbers) Moderation should be done for the sake of DB integrity.
• Don't allow users to see this:  it shouldn't be a competition (even if you can only see your own numbers) Contribution should be done for the sake of DB integrity. Note: I purposely made two changes that were completely and utterly incorrect to see if moderators were paying attention; to the 5 people who approved each of those changes, I have since gone back and requested a change to the correct information, approved again.
• Require sources.
• Add option for Moderators to pick which game systems will appear in moderation queue. This way we may have specialists. Simple tick/check boxes would work.

Notes:

• At least from using ARC Browser in conjunction with https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com, on my GPD XD +, I have found that the "Wikipedia" link section doesn't do anything, except allow you to click on it for more information about the game. Which leads me to believe it doesn't have to be a Wikipedia link. Recently tested my theory with a non-Wikipedia link, works. 
• It's exhausting to see correct information changed to completely incorrect information and having to go back to edit.

 

Thank you for your time,

Vloshko (Pokemon ROM Hack nerd)

 

edit 1: punctuation

edit 2: added a bullet point to "Suggested changes to https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com" section.

Edited November 3, 2019 by Vloshko

[Privacy]

Reserved

[neil9000]

Erm so who are you exactly, and why are you telling people how to submit to the database? We already have guidelines in place for the database, which have been in use since the database was created and were defined by the developer himself. It's not for a user to come in here and start telling people to ignore those guidelines and use what you have come up with instead.

[neil9000]

I will add that you do have some good points in that post, but its not your place to come in here and start telling the database moderators how to do there job, they have guidelines already and that is what they are expected to adhere to.

[Mr.Laor]

May lack tact, but nearly all  good ideas , especially as the system grows with Android

[Privacy]

13 hours ago, neil9000 said:

I will add that you do have some good points in that post, but its not your place to come in here and start telling the database moderators how to do there job, they have guidelines already and that is what they are expected to adhere to.

Thank you.

This is a forum, I added my opinions, as people do on forums. Do note, I didn't title the thread: 'Contribution & Moderation Law'. 2 sections are feedback and ideas for the DB Devs. A decent number of people aren't adhering to the guidelines (edit: by "guidelines", I mean "prompts" and what they imply)  which is why I decided to write this.

13 hours ago, neil9000 said:

Erm so who are you exactly, and why are you telling people how to submit to the database? We already have guidelines in place for the database, which have been in use since the database was created and were defined by the developer himself. It's not for a user to come in here and start telling people to ignore those guidelines and use what you have come up with instead.

Greetings, my name is Vloshko I'm a stickler for proper quality data and annoyed by procedures not being followed. I didn't tell anyone they must do 'X' or they are unfit to do 'Y', I said "tips" and "please attempt to adhere". If anything I was writing a bit further into what's already implied in the prompts on both ends in https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com. Once again this is a forum and unless words are coming from a moderator or are explicitly stated as an order or something similar, everything should be taken as opinion.

Devs can always improve the way something works, especially since the DB is in Alpha. They may read the opinions of users and maybe they will decide to make a change, or not.

 

By the way could you please link the guidelines here so everyone may see them?

I personally can't find them anywhere on https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com. Next I searched google. Finally, I double checked by searching the forms. The latter two instances I found the link is dead in the Pinned Post that leads leads to https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wB80CH3zecXccfQ4Et8NxYa-G1bQuo7eo1YHvkYQ728/edit.

Which brings me to another Suggestion I forgot to add, have these guidelines directly accessible from https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com/moderation, it's bad design to make the user navigate elsewhere to find them.

 

12 hours ago, Mr.Laor said:

May lack tact, but nearly all  good ideas , especially as the system grows with Android

Sorry for the tact, I'm Israeli, we're blunt and straight to the point, plus I'm a nerd.  Thank you for your feedback.

 

Thank you for your time and I'm sorry for offending you neil9000; I will do my best to word things better from this underlined point on out,

Vloshko (Pokemon ROM Hack nerd)

 

P.S. Someone has been adding a lot of clear logos, box art, and doing some consolidation, you're doing a fantastic job. Color accuracy 10/10 I think it was for Commodore 64 IIRC.

 

edit: clarity, punctuation, sentence structure, bold, underline

Edited November 4, 2019 by Vloshko

[sundogak]

A copy of the former guide is attached, although as noted it isn't accessible anymore (and not sure if this was a complete version).  It is a bit of wonky format since it was screen snaps.  It would be handy for those that are new to LB to have something similar/linkable/or in the DB topic.

Guide LB.pdf

Edited November 3, 2019 by sundogak

[Privacy]

2 hours ago, sundogak said:

A copy of the former guide is attached, although as noted it isn't accessible anymore (and not sure if this was a complete version).  It is a bit of wonky format since it was screen snaps.  It would be handy for those that are new to LB to have something similar/linkable/or in the DB topic.

Guide LB.pdf 383.91 kB · 3 downloads

Thank you very much. I'm not doubting you, as I have no reason to, and I can't verify it either (if the address bar was part of the screenshot however...). I still wish for the moderators to provide their own document or source.  Due to the following quotes and so there is no question about guideline authenticity and completeness:

13 hours ago, neil9000 said:

...they have guidelines already and that is what they are expected to adhere to.

 

13 hours ago, neil9000 said:

....We already have guidelines in place for the database, which have been in use since the database was created and were defined by the developer himself...

reminder: I couldn't find those guidelines.

BTW in the event that your pdf is verified by the moderators, wouldn't my original post fall under the sentence in-between the green dots?

 

Edited November 4, 2019 by Vloshko

[Temp]

Please read this thread, it should answer any and all questions for you. As a side note all you have to do is do a quick forum search or Google Launchbox database guidelines. In the time it took to type up all of this in the thread you created you could have located and read this post.

[Privacy]

23 minutes ago, Temp said:

Please read this thread, it should answer any and all questions for you. As a side note all you have to do is do a quick forum search or Google Launchbox database guidelines. In the time it took to type up all of this in the thread you created you could have located and read this post.

Reading through all 18 pages is an insufficient use of any humans time. In addition, the pinned post that has the link stating it contains the guidelines is no longer available. Finally, that link that may have contained accepted changes discussed in the thread that were only proved to be accepted within the document. What you are suggesting is an unprofessional & frankly unacceptable solution, not to mention it's extremely inadequate.

I take it you didn't read my post that contained this video of me doing the latter suggestion of your "side note": 

 

Edited November 4, 2019 by Vloshko

[Temp]

Are you kidding me, you are that lazy that you can't skim thru that post? Just fyi the guidelines document is in plain view on page 5 of 18 posted by Sentaibrad. Before acting like a douche try looking. I am aware the link doesn't work but the guidelines haven't changed from that document on page 5. If you continue to argue with mods your thread will be locked and you will be banned.

[Privacy]

Thank you very much Temp. I appreciate you directing me to the proper place where a moderator has posted the guidelines. Might I suggest that the Current Moderators update the first post of the Pinned thread with those images. Unless you can't, in which case the devs should make that possible.

In that case I would like to suggest the following edits since it is stated here:

Suggested edits (in italic):

1.

b. add https://www.romhacking.net to the list for rom hack source checking.

c. reject if the submission provides zero sources.

4. Change "Game Description" to "Overview" to properly reflect current DB UI/text.

8.

f. Proof that the fanart is used with permission or doesn't require permission.

14.

a. Should be reworded to reflect the difference between the blank option and "Not Rated".

 

Finally, I would like to add that I did not commit the ad hominem fallacy. I only responded to your suggestions, by taking their literal meanings, and using reasonable "E rated" adjectives as a response to the suggestions, I was not defining you as a human, nor did I attack you on a personal level. @Temp

P.S. Back to moderating I go.

 

 

 

Edited November 4, 2019 by Vloshko

[Lordmonkus]

@Vloshko I am going to highly recommend you tone down your snarky attitude or you will be given a vacation from the forums.

Being "Israeli which makes you blunt" or being a "nerd" is not an excuse for the way you are coming across here on the forums. You are coming off quite arrogant and confrontational which is not appreciated here.

[Privacy]

2 minutes ago, Lordmonkus said:

@Vloshko I am going to highly recommend you tone down your snarky attitude or you will be given a vacation from the forums.

Being "Israeli which makes you blunt" or being a "nerd" is not an excuse for the way you are coming across here on the forums. You are coming off quite arrogant and confrontational which is not appreciated here.

Read and understood.

[Noname]

yikess, these mods sure make me want to join and participate in this community. speaking of rules is there a page for forum rules aswell as forum moderator rules similar to https://www.reddit.com/wiki/moddiquette?

[Retro808]

6 hours ago, Noname said:

yikess, these mods sure make me want to join and participate in this community. speaking of rules is there a page for forum rules aswell as forum moderator rules similar to https://www.reddit.com/wiki/moddiquette?

And look at that, you did sign up and participate. Thank you and welcome! 

[Temp]

yikess, these mods sure make me want to join and participate in this community. speaking of rules is there a page for forum rules aswell as forum moderator rules similar to https://www.reddit.com/wiki/moddiquette?

Are you actually using the toxic environment of reddit to tell mods how to moderate the LB forums?  That's pretty amusing considering the mods over there are just as bad as the users.

[Jason Carr]

Well this escalated quickly...

We've had a discussion about this thread behind the scenes.

@Vloshko I appreciate your thoughts here. I don't currently have any immediate plans to make changes, but I'll keep them in mind going forward.