Cover Quality Discussion

[shenske]

Statements like "Anything less [than the best] would be a disservice to our cause of the site" don't hold much water when there's covers like either option for Game & Watch Gallery 4 already on the site.

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! HOW MANY TIMES DO WE HAVE TO SAY "OUR STANDARDS WERE NOT AS STRICT WHEN WE FIRST STARTED THE SIT AS THEY ARE NOW."  

Any comment based on on old shitty quality cover hold ZERO ground, I'm not beating this dead horse anymore.

The policy of "we won't upload placeholders to the site" and the policy of "we won't remove old covers from the site that don't meet the current standards until a new cover that does meet the standards is available to replace it" are absolutely, 100%, no ifs ands or buts counter-intuitive. And more than anything else, that's the source of confusion and annoyance for new cover artists getting their work rejected.

Its not that we won't take the poor quality covers down ... WE CAN NOT TAKE THEM DOWN. Once a file is in place, its there for good. All we can do is replace it with another image of the same name.

[Polygon]

Back pictures are pretty rough. "Genesis" logo is pixilated with moire effect. It looks like only the Genesis part is from and image but the Sega part was remade. Did you cut out the word genesis and replace it over-top of an already remade logo? The front artwork itself doesn't look too sharp but I don't know what the original insert looked like for reference.

Hmm.... I used one of the templates to make that. Here's the original scan.

http://www.synapsepc.com/Hosting/Forums/Video%20Games/The%20Cover%20Project/Covers/Sega/Genesis/Super%20Hang-On%20(Scan).jpg

[JDavis]

Statements like "Anything less [than the best] would be a disservice to our cause of the site" don't hold much water when there's covers like either option for Game & Watch Gallery 4 already on the site.

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! HOW MANY TIMES DO WE HAVE TO SAY "OUR STANDARDS WERE NOT AS STRICT WHEN WE FIRST STARTED THE SIT AS THEY ARE NOW." 

Any comment based on on old shitty quality cover hold ZERO ground, I'm not beating this dead horse anymore.

The policy of "we won't upload placeholders to the site" and the policy of "we won't remove old covers from the site that don't meet the current standards until a new cover that does meet the standards is available to replace it" are absolutely, 100%, no ifs ands or buts counter-intuitive. And more than anything else, that's the source of confusion and annoyance for new cover artists getting their work rejected.

Its not that we won't take the poor quality covers down ... WE CAN NOT TAKE THEM DOWN. Once a file is in place, its there for good. All we can do is replace it with another image of the same name.

I don't feel like you read my whole post

If the system doesn't allow them to be taken down, we either need a new system or to perhaps use a workaround, like making a generic image to replace them with that just states that they were removed for not meeting the standards.

My whole point was that leaving up bad covers hurts the site's quality just as much as adding bad covers.

[shenske]

Back pictures are pretty rough. "Genesis" logo is pixilated with moire effect. It looks like only the Genesis part is from and image but the Sega part was remade. Did you cut out the word genesis and replace it over-top of an already remade logo? The front artwork itself doesn't look too sharp but I don't know what the original insert looked like for reference.

Hmm.... I used one of the templates to make that. Here's the original scan.

http://www.synapsepc.com/Hosting/Forums/Video%20Games/The%20Cover%20Project/Covers/Sega/Genesis/Super%20Hang-On%20(Scan).jpg

Huh, weird. Well the source Sega used originally was kind of rough. You were fine then. I've never used the black grid template before but we'll have to replace that logo.  Here is a better logo for you to use for the time being. That'll make it pass  

https://www.box.com/s/bkvgnzk11hxkqqpckr2k

[FritzWhite]

I think he was just suggesting cleaning house a little. It's strange to have such stringent requirements only towards new submissions, yet not apply the same standards to the old stock. It's cool knowing that quality is such a priority, but how do you tell what passed the new standard and what passed under the old, looser standards? Maybe if there was a date or some kind of extra seal to indicate which covers met the new, stricter standards.

[JDavis]

Maybe if there was a date or some kind of extra seal to indicate which covers met the new, stricter standards.

That's actually what I was cautioning against here:

But if it's neither issue, and simply a matter of not wanting to remove the old crappy covers because they've "grandfathered in" under the old standards, then they should be labeled as such so that they don't degrade the overall image of quality that is The Cover Project. ... But if you start labeling these old crappy covers as what they are: placeholders for new higher-quality covers, it'll only confuse the matter more of why new placeholder covers can't be added as well.

I think it needs to be an all-or-nothing matter.

[Polygon]

Huh, weird. Well the source Sega used originally was kind of rough. You were fine then. I've never used the black grid template before but we'll have to replace that logo.  Here is a better logo for you to use for the time being. That'll make it pass  

https://www.box.com/s/bkvgnzk11hxkqqpckr2k

Man, you're right. Now that I look at it all three of those Genesis logos are pretty rough. I downloaded that new one and I'll make the changes. Any other changes you'd suggest?

[shenske]

Huh, weird. Well the source Sega used originally was kind of rough. You were fine then. I've never used the black grid template before but we'll have to replace that logo.  Here is a better logo for you to use for the time being. That'll make it pass  

https://www.box.com/s/bkvgnzk11hxkqqpckr2k

Man, you're right. Now that I look at it all three of those Genesis logos are pretty rough. I downloaded that new one and I'll make the changes. Any other changes you'd suggest?

See if you can find any new screenshots. From an emulator or a rom site generally have good quality ones.  MobyGames is good for screen shots too.

[BadChad]

Yup, mobygames is usually the first place I go when I need screenshots.

[larryinc64]

IGN is a good place for newer stuff too, on my Yoshi Topsy Turvy 3DS cover, I was able to find the exact SS on the box.

[sheep2001]

Statements like "Anything less [than the best] would be a disservice to our cause of the site" don't hold much water when there's covers like either option for Game & Watch Gallery 4 already on the site.

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! HOW MANY TIMES DO WE HAVE TO SAY "OUR STANDARDS WERE NOT AS STRICT WHEN WE FIRST STARTED THE SIT AS THEY ARE NOW." 

Any comment based on on old shitty quality cover hold ZERO ground, I'm not beating this dead horse anymore.

The policy of "we won't upload placeholders to the site" and the policy of "we won't remove old covers from the site that don't meet the current standards until a new cover that does meet the standards is available to replace it" are absolutely, 100%, no ifs ands or buts counter-intuitive. And more than anything else, that's the source of confusion and annoyance for new cover artists getting their work rejected.

Its not that we won't take the poor quality covers down ... WE CAN NOT TAKE THEM DOWN. Once a file is in place, its there for good. All we can do is replace it with another image of the same name.

I don't feel like you read my whole post

If the system doesn't allow them to be taken down, we either need a new system or to perhaps use a workaround, like making a generic image to replace them with that just states that they were removed for not meeting the standards.

My whole point was that leaving up bad covers hurts the site's quality just as much as adding bad covers.

Right - do you haven't idea how many covers are on the site that would need to be checked?  And how long it takes to check a cover for quality?  Also, if the errors are small, the admins fix it themselves.  What you are talking about is a full time job for 12 months or more.  Would you rather our admins did this, or focus on getting new stuff on to the site?   The quickest way of getting rid of an Old shit cover is to make a new version yourself wich confiorms to the new policies.  People who aren't able to do this seriously need to stop fucking complaining!  We're all sick of hearing it!

[Polygon]

See if you can find any new screenshots. From an emulator or a rom site generally have good quality ones.  MobyGames is good for screen shots too.

I'll give that a try as well. Thanks for all the help.

I do have another one I was hoping you could look at. It's also not on the site and didn't get approved for some reason. What do I need to fix on this one?

http://www.synapsepc.com/Hosting/Forums/Video%20Games/The%20Cover%20Project/Covers/Sega/Genesis/World%20Class%20Leader%20Board%20Golf.jpg

[tiktektak]

@polygon:

Please don't forget that if you want to make a retail cover the screens should be 100% accurate or at least almost accurate. For a custom it doesn't matter.

[Polygon]

@polygon:

Please don't forget that if you want to make a retail cover the screens should be 100% accurate or at least almost accurate. For a custom it doesn't matter.

Yep, and that's why I didn't change them on Super Hang-On. I wanted to try and do a retail cover. When I re-submit I'll be sure to chose custom.

[JDavis]

Right - do you haven't idea how many covers are on the site that would need to be checked?  And how long it takes to check a cover for quality?  Also, if the errors are small, the admins fix it themselves.  What you are talking about is a full time job for 12 months or more.  Would you rather our admins did this, or focus on getting new stuff on to the site?

I'm aware that going through all the covers would be a huge undertaking, which is why I suggested doling out most of that effort to the community at large instead of just the cover admins:

If it's a time/commitment issue of "we don't want to arse the cover admins to sort through and re-review all the old covers, when they already don't have much time to review new covers", then make it more of a public effort. I've seen no shortage of people on the forums pointing to this cover or that cover on the site that doesn't meet the standards, and it would be no problem to have a single thread or forum for people to post their concerns about existing covers in, that the admins could then look at just those covers and just those specific complaints brought against them and decide whether a cover needed to be removed.

The quickest way of getting rid of an Old shit cover is to make a new version yourself wich confiorms to the new policies.

Except in most cases the reason the old cover is bad is because bad scans were used; bad scans were used because no good scans existed; and no new, good scans are being made because there's already a cover on the site and/or nobody has the box (especially not the person who would want to spend the time making the cover).

People who aren't able to do this seriously need to stop fucking complaining!  We're all sick of hearing it!

I'm not complaining. As far as my needs go, the site itself is good for little more than reference. The forums are what I'm here for. Since the topics of both cover quality standards and general site improvement were being discussed, I was simply putting forth my suggestion to fix the biggest thing holding The Cover Project back from achieving its lofty goals.

No matter how many high quality dishes you make, you'll never be a 5-star restaurant if you keep corndogs on the menu.