I don't understand some of the rejections and changes made by mods to user submissions and edits. I did try to go over the style guide, but I want to point out that on the submission page, as well as under the mod notes on rejected edits, users are linked to
the style guide from 2011. I think you should update it to the
advanced one from 2020, or better yet link both.
However, neither one of these really have good guidelines or examples for merchandise or swag items. This is what I want to bring up.
I don't understand what the purpose of the "description" field is when everything always gets erased. I've referenced both the regular guide and the advanced style guide.
Here is what is listed in the original, official style guide for description boxes:
(For Games) Descriptions:
The Description field should be notes about the games packaging variants/ pack ins/ collector's edition details. Or trivia about the games release, such as if it is a launch title, last title, a very limited release, etc. This should not be filled with store descriptions describing the gameplay or hyping up the title. Plagiarizing descriptions from other sources will not be tolerated and will be deleted.(For Digital Downloads) Descriptions:
In most cases, Digital games would not need our description field to be filled in. Except in cases where it is only available from a certain location. Such as the freeware version of Daggerfall, which is from the official Elder Scrolls website. Or the indie game Hydorah, which is only available through its developer's website, locomolito.com. In these cases, you can simple say something along the lines of "The game is freeware and available for download from locomalito's website." Do not copy and paste URLs into description.
(For Steam Games) Description:
This box is used to describe specific things about the game - if it's been removed from the store, locked to a specific region, only available in a certain language, and so on. If you're adding a Collector's Edition of a game, and it includes specific bonuses, you enter the list of bonuses there. If the game you're adding is only available in a specific set or as a free game when buying something else, you may mention it here.And per the advanced style guide:
The description field is to list a physical description of an item, such as: what is contained in the packaging, additional item numbers, clarification of variation, item name descriptor details or release country if a TLD is not required in the item title.
For a digital game, it is for compatibilities or release information only. The data input should be concise and not wordy.
"Description" from other websites such as stores or online platforms are not valid for use here.I'll list examples I did and why I don't understand things were removed.
Ex. 1:
Smile Slime Plush Cap. In the description, I listed the material it was made out of: Polyester and Nylon, and that it had velcro on the chin strap. Why was this removed? It is a very short physical description of the item.
Ex. 2:
iRO Deviruchi t-shirt. In the description, I wrote that this was a promotional item only for International Ragnarok Online server players subscribed during a certain period. There is additional detail about the back of the shirt that can't be seen in the photo. The whole thing was removed. I think it is a bit nit-picky to remove the info about the back of the shirt for the sake of brevity, but why remove the part about it being promotional specific to one region? Doesn't that count as clarification of variation or details about release? The title does have iRO which is an acronym for "International Ragnarok Online" but that's not written anywhere else on the page, and neither is "Ragnarok Online". Anyone using those two terms for searches wouldn't find this promotional item.
Ex. 3:
Fire Emblem Memorial Book Vol. 1. In the description, I wrote that it is a compilation of lore, sketches and character sheets by the devs. It was rejected for the reason "No relevant information" and then replaced by the second barcode number on the book. Also, I actually added a picture of the back of the book for this entry. That was removed with the reason given "Missing text". I don't understand, it's a photograph. How can I add text to a photograph? How can text be missing? Furthermore, why would you need to replace the description with additional barcode numbers, when it was in the photograph that you removed? This does not seem very logical to me that you would have a photo of something, remove it, then add in a text box what you removed. Honest question, and I hope I'm not coming across as a jerk but are you trying to just keep all entries to one picture per entry? Description box aside, I really don't understand the reasoning behind removing the photo of the back of the book other than "you don't want it". And that's fine if that's the case, but you should clarify that somewhere in your guides. I would ask that you be consistent in how you edit things too because I submitted
the second volume of this book as well, but the editing was done different. The photo of the back of the book stayed and the description is completely blank. Not sure which example is supposed to be the correct one.
Ex. 4:
Figma figure of female Kamui from Fire Emblem: Fates. I added in the description that there was a bonus item unique to the GOOD SMILE website and that was removed. I don't understand why that was removed because "it wasn't relevant." If you ordered this figure from a different retailer, you would have different accessories. The packaging and Kamui herself is the same though. This information seems like it would be relevant since it talks about what is contained in the packaging.
There are also some liberties taken by mods doing the edits that I don't think follow your own guidelines.
Ex. 1 The title was edited in
this submission. I originally had the color labeled with it because there are two variants. I have the pink one shown. There is a
navy version as well. I didn't bother to list the navy one since I don't have it, and the only photo I could find the cap looks more black than navy.
Ex. 2 The Pokemon KFC promotional items were relabeled from
"bean bag" to "plush". The tush tag on the items in question have them labeled as "bean bag" and they were promoted by that description in
KFC's own commercial.Ex. 3 To double back on the picture removal topic, you completely removed two additional photos from
this listing, making it difficult to understand what it is. For this listing I had a photo of the front of the box (still there), the back of the box (which has the name of the item, a description of it, and how to clean/maintain it in japanese) and a photo of the drinking glass by itself so people could see what it looks like. As it is now, there is no way anyone could figure out what this listing is supposed to be unless you already have the item yourself. I think keeping the listing like this, you are more likely to end up with users making multiple entries for the same item, especially if they just posted a listing without the box and only the loose item.
I have some other entries that I'm not so sure on, but this post is already quite involved so I'll wait for clarification on my examples first. I'm hoping someone can further explain certain things since it seems like I'm following the guidelines but there is an obvious misunderstanding. I have several other merchandise type items and some older IBM games on 3.5in floppy disks I want to add but tbh, I am reluctant to since I have no idea what is going on with the edits.
Oh and there is a mistake here for the
Fire Emblem Three Houses Pin set. You added the colon but misspelled 'three'.
