Forums > MobyGames > How long to get responses from approvers?
RoyHong (285) on 4/24/2012 8:27 PM · Permalink · Report
Hello,
I submitted 2 new games and 2 credits about 4 weeks ago and they have not been reviewed yet. I know that MobyGames is run by volunteers and I should be patient. But, the problem is that my submissions are very important for me because of visa issue and I do not have much time so I am wondering that how long it usually takes and there is any way to contact approvers?
Thanks.
Unicorn Lynx (181769) on 4/25/2012 2:47 AM · edited · Permalink · Report
The best way to contact several approvers at once is what you just did - post a message in the forums. Also, you can send private messages to anyone.
Sometimes it does take a very long time for a submission to get approved. For which platform are those two new game entries?
Unicorn Lynx (181769) on 4/26/2012 4:57 PM · Permalink · Report
I went through about 20 entries in the queue, back to those submitted on April 14th, and there aren't any submissions of yours... are you sure you didn't pull them out of the queue accidentally?
Corn Popper (69019) on 4/26/2012 5:04 PM · Permalink · Report
yup, they are in WIP status and not in the queue
Roy you need to go to the homepage and check your message there and then submit the entries for approval
486pc (14623) on 4/25/2012 6:06 AM · edited · Permalink · Report
In my case, I contributed Space M+A+X on Apr 07, 2012 "Covers for the game Space M+A+X (5 items), Apr 07, 2012, pull from approval queue""
But I can't understand why erav's contribute is registered on Apr 22. (My contribution still doesn't be registered.) erav doesn't have original package. He only got this from www.underground-gamer.com on Apr 21 03:51:55 You can download "Space M+A+X" on www.underground-gamer.com. I've bought this on ebay and contribute this on Apr 07.
I disappointed this case.
vedder (71091) on 4/25/2012 7:36 AM · Permalink · Report
As I just sent you as a PM as well:
That date is most likely the approval date, not the contribution date. I can only access pending contributions on an oldest first basis. Thus erav contributed earlier than you.
Or, another explanation could be that you pulled the contribution from the queue and resubmitted at a later date in which case the position in the queue is reset.
CalaisianMindthief (8172) on 5/5/2012 6:40 PM · edited · Permalink · Report
Name: TotalAnarchy
Function: Good and caring Wii approver, has lots of qualities but cannot list them because of space restriction.
Seeking: All type of Wii submissions, except Japanese credits.
How to contact me: via the Contribute button.
katarn_88 (1231) on 6/20/2012 11:19 PM · Permalink · Report
One of game corrections made by me is waiting in the queue for its check almost for a year. In this case 4 weeks don't look like something special. Volunteers and etc. and etc. - good. But a year of waiting, some strange standards (Russia - Asian country, not European one... looks like somebody needs to take some geography and history classes) and so on doesn't add any enthusiasm.
Unicorn Lynx (181769) on 6/21/2012 2:45 AM · Permalink · Report
Corrections are the worst, because there are only three people who can approve them, and the queues are very long.
Maybe you can tell us what correction it was and an admin can fix it right away?
katarn_88 (1231) on 6/21/2012 2:14 PM · Permalink · Report
Correction for the game Defender of the Crown: Heroes Live Forever, 11/07/2011
It's not right cover art, the one, that is right, is http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/defender-of-the-crown-heroes-live-forever/cover-art/gameCoverId,173114/. This art is for digitally remastered edition of original DotC (2002).
Correction for the game Mass Effect (Limited Collector's Edition), 02/05/2012
It should be on another page (Mass Effect), not this (Mass Effect. Collector's Edition)
===
Maybe my English is bad, but the main ideas of this corrections, I think, are clear. Anyway, if somebody read this, he could ask me what does it mean if he didn't understand or something.
Nélio (1976) on 6/27/2012 4:20 AM · Permalink · Report
These queues are really frustrating and have made me give up on this site for several occasions (but I eventually return). One of my pending corrections was submitted in 2008, an approver commented on it last year after I complained in the forums, and although I promptly replied, the correction remains pending to this day. I have a couple more pending corrections from 2010 and another from last year. It's been like this for a few years already.
I love this site as it's the most complete resource of its kind. Unfortunately, I end up questioning the accuracy and validity of the database because I can only assume that there must be a huge amount of pending corrections on file. Either that or you simply prioritize the addition of games, screenshots, and platforms, which I guess it's OK but not at the cost of the other contributions being pending for months, even years. That's bad for the community and ultimately for the site, as people like me who could do a ton of contributions simply give up and rarely submit anything nowadays.
Thanks for reading.
Unicorn Lynx (181769) on 6/27/2012 4:33 AM · Permalink · Report
I definitely hope the higher-ups are reading this. Many users have already left the site because of the problems Nelio mentions. We simply can't let corrections stay in the queue for years.
Hell, letting contributions stay there for more than a month is already embarrassing enough.
Cantillon (78586) on 6/27/2012 7:31 AM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Nélio wrote--]These queues are really frustrating and have made me give up on this site for several occasions (but I eventually return). One of my pending corrections was submitted in 2008, an approver commented on it last year after I complained in the forums, and although I promptly replied, the correction remains pending to this day. I have a couple more pending corrections from 2010 and another from last year. It's been like this for a few years already. [/Q --end Nélio wrote--] Just wondering, what type of corrections?
Nélio (1976) on 6/27/2012 11:49 AM · Permalink · Report
Things like wrong platform, release date, game title, technical specs, links, that sort of stuff. When I'm analyzing a game (I'm a retrogamer and a game developer) and find questionable or incomplete information in MobyGames I tend to (try to) contribute and fix it.
That entry that I submitted in 2008 was about a game that was listed as a Windows game, yet released in 1993, two years before Windows was released. I now checked the entry and it seems that someone recently changed the game's release date for Windows to 1995. I guess that fixes things, but the game was in fact released in 1993. It eventually ran in Windows when the OS was released in 1995, but I don't think that should count as an official release of the game.
I know I'm being picky, but this is what this site should be all about. The community should be able to contribute to make the information as accurate and complete as possible. If there's not enough approvers to keep this working smoothly, get more people to approve, or allow "veteran users" with a certain score to make/approve minor corrections.
I know there have been huge discussions in the forums about this subject in the past, but I just returned to the site (again) and was hoping for things to be better and do some more contributions. But when I check my pending items list I just get frustrated and leave.
Terok Nor (42635) on 6/27/2012 12:58 PM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Nélio wrote--] That entry that I submitted in 2008 was about a game that was listed as a Windows game, yet released in 1993, two years before Windows was released. I now checked the entry and it seems that someone recently changed the game's release date for Windows to 1995. I guess that fixes things, but the game was in fact released in 1993. It eventually ran in Windows when the OS was released in 1995, but I don't think that should count as an official release of the game. [/Q --end Nélio wrote--]
This exact issue (regarding the title in question and others) is currently being investigated and will hopefully be cleared soon.
Nélio (1976) on 6/27/2012 2:52 PM · Permalink · Report
Thank you.
But still, this issue is larger than just that one entry. The last time I complained about queue times in the forums I was told that I should bug the approvers whenever something like that happens. It does work for a particular entry, but it's no more than a band-aid. I think MobyGames needs a real solution as most (potential) contributors probably won't go to the trouble of posting in the forums. They will just assume the site is dead, or simply forget about it.
And those who contribute regularly don't want to constantly bug approvers for their attention. We know you're busy and doing what you can.
Unicorn Lynx (181769) on 6/27/2012 3:14 PM · Permalink · Report
I should bug the approvers whenever something like that happens
Correction: you should bug the admins. There is a big difference between an admin and an approver in that an admin can approve corrections, while a regular approver can't. Currently there are only 3 or 4 people who are able to approve corrections, and about 30 people who can approve everything else.
Nélio (1976) on 6/27/2012 3:44 PM · Permalink · Report
Yeah, that's probably what they told me. It was a year ago - or more - so apologies. But that just proves how weird things are at the moment. Having to send a PM to a site administrator to change the release year of a game? Or to fix a typo in a game description? Good grief.
It seems to me that allowing approvers to approve corrections would make things run much smoother. Why is this a bad idea? A correction shouldn't require any more special attention than a new submission. Am I missing something?
Unicorn Lynx (181769) on 6/27/2012 4:26 PM · Permalink · Report
It seems to me that allowing approvers to approve corrections would make things run much smoother.
If MobyGames were a church, a thunderous Amen would shatter its walls now.
A correction shouldn't require any more special attention than a new submission. Am I missing something?
You are missing some behind-the-curtains politics most of us are completely unaware of.
j.raido 【雷堂嬢太朗】 (98977) on 6/27/2012 4:32 PM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Nélio wrote--]Having to send a PM to a site administrator to change the release year of a game?[/Q --end Nélio wrote--] One trick with release info is that if there's more than one thing you want to fix -- say, the date is wrong and there's a company missing -- you can just submit a new release info to replace it, which will get approved much faster than a correction.
[Q --start Nélio wrote--]Or to fix a typo in a game description?[/Q --end Nélio wrote--] This doesn't count as a correction, actually. It counts as a revision, which approvers are able to review.
[Q --start Nélio wrote--]It seems to me that allowing approvers to approve corrections would make things run much smoother. Why is this a bad idea? A correction shouldn't require any more special attention than a new submission. Am I missing something? [/Q --end Nélio wrote--] Processing a correction requires being able to directly edit content, which is something approvers cannot do. We've been asking for a way to help out with this for a while now.
chirinea (47507) on 6/27/2012 4:38 PM · edited · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Nélio wrote--]Yeah, that's probably what they told me. It was a year ago - or more - so apologies. But that just proves how weird things are at the moment. Having to send a PM to a site administrator to change the release year of a game? Or to fix a typo in a game description? Good grief.
It seems to me that allowing approvers to approve corrections would make things run much smoother. Why is this a bad idea? A correction shouldn't require any more special attention than a new submission. Am I missing something? [/Q --end Nélio wrote--]I know you were only giving an example, but descriptions are easier to get corrected: you just need to edit them, you don't have to submit a correction.
The problem is that the site is designed in a way that corrections are only available for admins, and admins have access to everything on MobyGames, not only corrections, for instance. The site owners are not comfortable in having several people with admin access (which is understandable), so the only real solution would be a code overhaul in a way corrections could fall out of the "admin-only" realm. That won't happen too soon because our only programmer is currently working on other GameFly projects (at least that's the last info we have).
So yeah, we have several problems and the solutions are taking more time than we expected to come, but hey, please, stay with us, you're cool and we're nice people! =)
Edit: I wrote my message while the others were responding, so sorry for being redundant.
Nélio (1976) on 6/27/2012 5:10 PM · Permalink · Report
Thank you all for the responses and clarifications. I didn't know that a correction to a description wouldn't go to the correction queue. I've actually avoided fixing typos and improving descriptions because I thought they wouldn't get approved in this life time. Thanks for letting me know.
The approvals backoffice needs an upgrade, for what I've heard here and in other posts (including THAT sticky post). It seems like there are forms for insertions into the database, but no forms for replacing an item. The admins must edit the items directly in the database, which has to be done with special privileges and extreme caution. At least that's what it seems to me.
I'm sure there a number of contributors who are programmers, as I am. Can't the backoffice itself (or some modules?) be a community effort? If you get a handful of people working on it I'm sure the site would improve drastically over time. I'm pretty sure this was already suggested, but here it goes again.
Patrick Bregger (303232) on 6/27/2012 5:17 PM · edited · Permalink · Report
There never can't be enough people telling the administration those obvious but important conclusions. As I am never tired to repeat, a back end re-design needs to be the main focus after the ongoing front end re-design is finished. Almost all "simple" corrections need to become regular approval queues. Only leave the real tricky things to the admins.
katarn_88 (1231) on 6/27/2012 5:25 PM · Permalink · Report
Sounds familiar. 2 covers were "work in progress" about 2 years. I had abandoned them about month ago. Right now 70 covers standing in queue. However, some of covers were approved before others, which were added earlier. Can't see any logic. Maybe I'll wait a couple of weeks and then abandon them, because I'm starting to remember why I didn't add anything last year. Because waiting for 3 weeks, 4 months or 2 years isn't fun.
Now, when I see something I can add to game base, I think about it: "how long will I waiting? I guess, I won't add this. Hope, somebody has much more patience, then me".
Sciere (930968) on 6/27/2012 5:46 PM · edited · Permalink · Report
The Windows queue is the largest of all, about 700 cover items pending there now, and with each approval there is a new influx, but it's a fairly steady flow. There are other influences though. Since your covers just barely meet the required minimum resolution and no disc scan is included, many approvers can be suspicious that they were actually lifted from another site. Most covers sent in by other users contain the full set (front/back/disc) and are in a very high resolution so there's no doubt they are self-scanned. If they only just meet the requirements, some approvers either search some sites to see if they were taken from anywhere else, or skip them because they doubt the authenticity, but are not sure.
Don't worry, your covers seem legit, but that certainly plays a role. Lots of submissions get rejected because people just grab covers from any resource they can find and submit them here. It's up to the approvers to weed those out and that takes a lot of time.
katarn_88 (1231) on 6/27/2012 5:55 PM · Permalink · Report
About "barely meet" I can say, that last covers are 250 dpi - more, than required minimum, aren't they? Maybe next will be 300 or how much do you need? But if there is a queue in 100 different items I just don't want do anything until I know that I did everything good last time.
I am not alone, who do not scan discs, so I don't see any problem here, I am not special. I even saw only front scans or only back scans - I think, it's more strange, than full set of covers without disc scan. For the first time I was trying to scan them, but had many problems with approvers. And it took a lot of time. Now I don't have problems, however waiting is still there.
If something is not right - resolution, for example - I'll fix it if I can, but if I have no feedback I can't do anything.
stabel (3927) on 7/30/2012 10:02 AM · edited · Permalink · Report
Hi,
as I have more or less the same question, I will just jump into this thread.
After quite some pondering with myself, I decided to start submitting data from my ever growing collection (atm mostly screen shots and cover scans for XBOX 360 games). As I have never submitted anything before, I am of course eager to see them online but even more interested to know whether they are in an acceptable state. I just want to avoid submitting data which in the end turns out to be bad.
So any estimate on the XBOX 360 queue?
Starbuck the Third (22601) on 7/30/2012 12:08 PM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start stabel wrote--]Hi,
as I have more or less the same question, I will just jump into this thread.
After quite some pondering with myself, I decided to start submitting data from my ever growing collection (atm mostly screen shots and cover scans for XBOX 360 games). As I have never submitted anything before, I am of course eager to see them online but even more interested to know whether they are in an acceptable state. I just want to avoid submitting data which in the end turns out to be bad.
So any estimate on the XBOX 360 queue? [/Q --end stabel wrote--] Screenshots and cover art are pretty simple affairs, just make sure that the covers are scanned at a minimum resolution of 200dpi. With the screenshots, that's a little trickier. We prefer they are captured using the console itself, or in the native resolution of the console (the 360 in this case) with stuff like anti aliasing switched off if your using something like an emulator.
Hope this helps.
Starbuck the Third (22601) on 7/30/2012 12:15 PM · Permalink · Report
These forum topics should also help with your screenshot question, stabel:
http://www.mobygames.com/forums/dga,2/dgb,4/dgm,145610/ http://www.mobygames.com/forums/dga,2/dgb,6/dgm,159390/
stabel (3927) on 7/30/2012 1:42 PM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start havoc of smeg wrote--] Screenshots and cover art are pretty simple affairs, just make sure that the covers are scanned at a minimum resolution of 200dpi. With the screenshots, that's a little trickier. We prefer they are captured using the console itself, or in the native resolution of the console (the 360 in this case) with stuff like anti aliasing switched off if your using something like an emulator.
Hope this helps. [/Q --end havoc of smeg wrote--]
I am using a capture card for this, so there should be no problem I hope :)
BurningStickMan (17916) on 7/30/2012 8:32 PM · Permalink · Report
Stabel - I glanced at your shots in the queue. There's a limit of 40 screens per title, so you'll need to remove some for Hunted (someone correct me if this has changed).
Are those shots for Hunted captured at 1080 off the console, or are you blowing up the images in another program? The 360 usually scales better than that, but it could easily just be the game.
The SD shots for King Kong will probably be approved, but we'd prefer them in HD if possible. They might get replaced with HD shots if someone comes along and submits them.
Klaster_1 (57610) on 7/31/2012 4:12 AM · Permalink · Report
I have a question about replacing screenshots. There are a bunch of awful 640×480 images for Resistance 2. If I submit new 720p ones, will they be replaced or appended to the list?
Patrick Bregger (303232) on 7/31/2012 3:07 PM · Permalink · Report
I'd say it depends on the content. When the content of a screenshot is not equally replaced, it probably will stay.
stabel (3927) on 7/31/2012 4:40 AM · edited · Permalink · Report
[Q --start BurningStickMan wrote--]Stabel - I glanced at your shots in the queue. There's a limit of 40 screens per title, so you'll need to remove some for Hunted (someone correct me if this has changed).
Are those shots for Hunted captured at 1080 off the console, or are you blowing up the images in another program? The 360 usually scales better than that, but it could easily just be the game.
The SD shots for King Kong will probably be approved, but we'd prefer them in HD if possible. They might get replaced with HD shots if someone comes along and submits them. [/Q --end BurningStickMan wrote--]
Hi,
capturing was done using Avermedia HD capture card directly via HDMI. Screenshots from Hunted were done directly from Avermedia Center 3D, King Kong from the saved stream using Premiere Elements. Both times, I have not seen any hint at changed resolutions. However Premiere tells me the videos from KK have HD res, however taking a snapshot using Premiere only saves them at SD ... oh great. Any ideas which programs to use to get better results?
stabel (3927) on 7/31/2012 9:26 AM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Klaster_1 wrote--]Avermedia Center 3D is just fine for the task. Showing screenshot in question and telling what card model you are using might help. Also, what resolution your 360 outputs? 1080i,p or lower? [/Q --end Klaster_1 wrote--]
I am using this card:
AVerMedia AVerTV CaptureHD/-H727
I can not check the display setting atm but if the Hunted screens are 1080 and the KK saved stream is 1080, shouldn't the output be 1080p?
Klaster_1 (57610) on 7/31/2012 10:57 AM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start stabel wrote--]AVerMedia AVerTV CaptureHD/-H727
I can not check the display setting atm but if the Hunted screens are 1080 and the KK saved stream is 1080, shouldn't the output be 1080p? [/Q --end stabel wrote--] Just as I though, that card does not support 1080p. Submitted screenshot probably have interlace all over it, like this.
stabel (3927) on 7/31/2012 11:07 AM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Klaster_1 wrote--] [Q2 --start stabel wrote--]AVerMedia AVerTV CaptureHD/-H727
I can not check the display setting atm but if the Hunted screens are 1080 and the KK saved stream is 1080, shouldn't the output be 1080p? [/Q2 --end stabel wrote--] Just as I though, that card does not support 1080p. Submitted screenshot probably have interlace all over it, like this. [/Q --end Klaster_1 wrote--]
ah I see ... to bad then ... have to can it then and save for a FullHD card. So screenshots will have to wait.