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18:08, 28th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Portrait Submissions.

Posted by Shannara
SunRuanEr
subscriber, 337 posts
Thu 1 Oct 2020
at 13:16
  • msg #377

Re: Portrait Submission

I don't know what to tell you. If you need something specific that isn't included in the gallery, submit something. That's what submissions are for. The workaround I suggested was for if you didn't have time to wait for a submission to go in before you needed it, or only needed it for a post or two and couldn't justify burning your 1-per-month submission on it. It was not remotely a suggestion that non-white portraits should go 'to the back of the bus' and just be jury-rigged in. /shrug

I understand that the gallery submissions tend to skew towards White-People-Glamour-Shots, but tearing down people who submit what - to them - is the perfect representation of their pretty white blonde girl character that couldn't already be found in the gallery isn't going to get more non-white portraits submitted. If you run or play in games that need something specific that isn't already available in the gallery, submit something. Get your players to submit things, for themselves or for your NPCs if they're willing. Just because you're capped at one portrait a month and it needs to be used (which I have always interpreted as meaning 'assigned to a character, even if that character is a hidden NPC that won't come into actual play for a year') doesn't mean the person that submits it has to be the person using it.

Gallery diversity isn't going to be improved by telling people they can't submit portraits just because they're the same age/skin/hair color of portraits that already exist. You need people to actively submit portraits for (as you put it) 'non-Young-White-Fashion-model' types to do that.
Warrax
subscriber, 287 posts
Thu 1 Oct 2020
at 14:03
  • msg #378

Re: Portrait Submission

tibiotarsus:
This is allowed now? I always had the impression the rules meant you had to submit portraits for folk you immediately needed to play.


Please feel free to submit whatever portrait you want to see in the gallery when you make your submission, yes.
bigbadron
moderator, 15941 posts
He's big, he's bad,
but mostly he's Ron.
Thu 1 Oct 2020
at 15:12

Re: Portrait Submission

There has never been a conscious effort to produce a gallery with a perfectly diverse set of portraits.

Instead people were told that, due to space limitations (and the fact that the galleries were (until very recently) hosted on volunteer-provided servers, and paid for by those same volunteers) they should ONLY submit images for characters that they, personally, intended to play.

So if nobody was planning to play a character from (for example) Papua New Guinea, then there would not be any such portraits submitted (while still allowing for somebody to submit one if they did plan to use such a character).
Warrax
subscriber, 288 posts
Thu 1 Oct 2020
at 15:35
  • msg #380

Re: Portrait Submission

bigbadron:
There has never been a conscious effort to produce a gallery with a perfectly diverse set of portraits.

Instead people were told that, due to space limitations (and the fact that the galleries were (until very recently) hosted on volunteer-provided servers, and paid for by those same volunteers) they should ONLY submit images for characters that they, personally, intended to play.


Yeah, the portrait system was a lot of Shannara bossing out and doing what she could as a one-person show until what, a couple of years ago? So we're slowly trying to handle things a little differently now that we've the resources to do it.
tibiotarsus
member, 195 posts
Hopepunk with a shovel
Thu 1 Oct 2020
at 18:26
  • msg #381

Re: Portrait Submission

Warrax:
<quote tibiotarsus>Please feel free to submit whatever portrait you want to see in the gallery when you make your submission, yes.


Sweet! Longterm plotting to give this site the ability to run a certain game hopefully coming out next year commences...I may have a comrade to help with the MoN issues.


SunRuan, it looks like there's a bit of cross-purposes here: you're talking about single PCs, I'm talking about GMs having the ability to play in a setting with relative ease. I'm already doing my best, but at 1 portrait a month it's like...there's stuff you literally can't do (I'd mention settings I'd like to run but it'd probably count as an ad). I'm sorry you feel torn down by having non-white/young/Hollywood ladies take up slots that could be used for a new hairstyle, that wasn't my intention, but we honestly have so many of those ladies the hairstyles probably exist already if the new submitters did the searching there was an implication I hadn't. ...and would be easier to find if tagged. Hence the tag helping query, because I would love to help.

I mean, I also like things to be efficient, and submitting portraits only useful for oneself in a limited system seems inefficient for the system as a whole, which is why I haven't flooded the system with native Siberians, instead providing our only historical Asiatic mum-age lady and a couple of kids in Russianised clothing people can pretend are several ethnicities.

As BBR said, no-one's suggesting - or has ever suggested - we make the gallery diverse just because Planet Earth, Sol System, is, but a better range of humans breaks the loop of having a few well-worn stories it's easy to tell and everyone else having to work twice as hard with shoddier materials (which means those stories get shoved to the back burner because who wants to work on their fun time, which means it's easier to talk about mediaeval England, but Potatoes, Again, etc. etc.). More communally-available variety causes no problems, whilst more of things we have already objectively pads out the size of the haystack at least some GMs are patiently fishing needles from in a system that's struggling with its search capacities.

If you don't know what to say to me, please don't. I only wanted to ask a question/make a suggestion about gallery efficiency, and Warrax is very patient with such (thank you).
Warrax
subscriber, 289 posts
Thu 1 Oct 2020
at 18:28
  • msg #382

Re: Portrait Submission

tibiotarsus:
but at 1 portrait a month it's like...there's stuff you literally can't do


Just for clarity, you can submit a portrait whether you need it for a current (N)PC or not, but we are sticking to the 1 portrait per cycle limitation.

As always, we appreciate the feedback the community gives us and we're happy to work within given constraints to try and make the gallery a better tool for everyone here on the site. It's been awesome for us over the years, so it's nice to be able to give back a little :)
tibiotarsus
member, 196 posts
Hopepunk with a shovel
Thu 1 Oct 2020
at 20:19
  • msg #383

Re: Portrait Submission

Absoloutely understood (longterm plotting is longterm, yes), and again, thank you for being patient, approachable, and doing a sterling job with enthusiasm. It's deeply appreciated and I'll get off your update thread now.
El Taco Taco
member, 1 post
Thu 8 Oct 2020
at 18:14
  • msg #384

Re: Portrait Submission

Really glad that portrait submissions are back up and running. :) The lack of custom portraits was my biggest pain point in running games here, so having these submissions open again is greatly appreciated.

Would there be any way we could get a confirmation reply that the portrait has been received or if it's been rejected? Given that we can only submit one a month, it's a little disappointing to submit a portrait, see it not go up, and then have to spend another month submitting it again. I know I try to triple check that I've done it right, but this has happened to me multiple times now, even when I'm dead certain I didn't mess up.

I've got a folder of several portraits I'm working through, and at this rate, it'll be well over a year before I can get them uploaded ):

I can imagine it's just as frustrating for y'all to get the same portrait or the same mistake over and over too. I feel like this would go a long way for improving both sides of the process, even if it's just a 'hey, this is after the submission date for this month so it's going up next month' or 'sorry, it's being rejected because XYZ'.

Thanks for the consideration!
RosstoFalstaff
member, 195 posts
Thu 8 Oct 2020
at 19:07
  • msg #385

Re: Portrait Submission

In reply to El Taco Taco (msg # 384):

Imagine having to write a short answer line for hundreds of pictures, on top of the work the uploaders already are doing.

It might seem like a small amount of effort for you, but that's partially because you WANT this outcome.
El Taco Taco
member, 2 posts
Thu 8 Oct 2020
at 19:59
  • msg #386

Re: Portrait Submission

I mean, yeah, I have no idea how much is going on behind the scenes or how it's done ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ All I have to go on numbers wise is the number of portraits reported as uploaded, which has seemed to be about a dozen a shot lately.

If it's more work than it's worth, then I have no problem with that not being implemented. But as it is an outcome that I would, in fact, like to see, I figured I'd ask to see if it could accommodated.
Warrax
subscriber, 290 posts
Thu 8 Oct 2020
at 19:59
  • msg #387

Re: Portrait Submission

No harm in asking.  We will discuss it and see what's what.
Morgan Coldsoul
member, 317 posts
29+ years RP experience
I'll forget again later
Fri 9 Oct 2020
at 17:25
  • msg #388

Re: Portrait Submission

@El Taco Taco your portrait actually was uploaded, it's #930 in male/modern/casual.
Varsovian
member, 1517 posts
Sun 11 Oct 2020
at 22:18
  • msg #389

Re: Portrait Submission

Hey guys, a question: if I submit a portrait tomorrow or on Tuesday, when - more or less - will it appear in the gallery?
Morgan Coldsoul
member, 318 posts
29+ years RP experience
I'll forget again later
Sun 11 Oct 2020
at 22:23
  • msg #390

Re: Portrait Submission

In reply to Varsovian (msg # 389):

Today's the 11th, so it would go in the next batch that's scheduled to be uploaded before the end of this month, which means if all goes well it would be available no later than October 31st.

This coming Wednesday, the 14th, is the cutoff date for the current cycle, so anything received by then will be included in the current batch, and anything received starting at 12:01am Thursday will be part of the next.
Varsovian
member, 1518 posts
Sun 11 Oct 2020
at 23:19
  • msg #391

Re: Portrait Submission

Thanks! Should the portrait be submitted in 100x100 size, or do you do the resizing yourself? Do you do any retouching etc. to the images to make them more clear, or do you upload them as submitted?
Morgan Coldsoul
member, 319 posts
29+ years RP experience
I'll forget again later
Sun 11 Oct 2020
at 23:31
  • msg #392

Re: Portrait Submission

You're welcome to just send in the image you want and I'll cut it down and polish it for the gallery upload.

If you want to do the editing yourself, then the final product needs to be a 100x100 pixel JPEG file less than 5kb in size, and it should look as clear and high-quality as you can make it. In cases where users submit already-altered files, I do sometimes try to brighten or sharpen them a bit if they look fuzzy, if I can, but otherwise it's whatever you send us.
El Taco Taco
member, 3 posts
Thu 15 Oct 2020
at 17:51
  • msg #393

Re: Portrait Submission

In reply to Morgan Coldsoul (msg # 388):

I did see that, thanks!

My pain point was when I checked the thread for the update of which portraits had been uploaded the following month, it wasn't listed as included in that batch. I didn't actually ever see it included in the list of uploads the following month, either. I only happened to stumble across the fact it was uploaded by chance.

I was fairly sure I had submitted it in time for the month's batch. (This was months ago, so I could absolutely be wrong about the timing, I have no idea what day is what anymore.)

It's been the same experience with every portrait I've submitted, and while it could absolutely be a matter of timing, the lack of response and 2 month long delay does leave me feeling a bit like I'm just shouting into the void.
Morgan Coldsoul
member, 320 posts
29+ years RP experience
I'll forget again later
Thu 15 Oct 2020
at 18:53
  • msg #394

Re: Portrait Submission

The submission in question was received and processed in August and uploaded in September, after the delay caused by the server migration. There was an announcement that includes 1 male rugged portrait which is what it was originally tagged as in processing, but somehow it wound up in casual at the end. My guess is that was simply an oversight in the announcement, and a male rugged entry was listed rather than the male casual to which it was changed. Seems like probably just a bookkeeping error, which is bound to happen from time to time.

I can't speak to similar experiences you may have had, just encourage everyone to always double-check that you included your username, that the file is an embed or attachment, and that you only submit one per cycle if you want to be sure that one is the one to go through.
Doji Hoturi
member, 39 posts
Mon 2 Nov 2020
at 18:30
  • msg #395

Re: Portrait Submission

Did you already put up the submissions from late September/ early October been posted?
Warrax
subscriber, 291 posts
Mon 2 Nov 2020
at 18:59
  • msg #396

Re: Portrait Submission

Anything that was approved before October has been posted.

The October profiles are in a pending state right, but I've definitely submitted them. As soon as jase gets back to me, I'll get them sorted into the gallery.
Doji Hoturi
member, 40 posts
Tue 3 Nov 2020
at 04:29
  • msg #397

Re: Portrait Submission

Ah, okay. Sweet. Thank you!
Warrax
subscriber, 292 posts
Fri 6 Nov 2020
at 17:10
  • msg #398

Re: Portrait Submission

Okay, October portraits are now in the gallery!

2x Male 19th Century
1x Male Casual
1x Male Business

1x Neutral Demihuman

1x Female Monster
2x Female Demihuman
3x Female Warrior
2x Female Casual
1x Female Sci-fi Human

EDIT: Whoops, forgot to list the Male Business portrait because I can't count.  Hurr hurr.  It's definitely there, though.
This message was last edited by the user at 11:44, Sun 08 Nov 2020.
Boogs
member, 7 posts
I do boogie consistently.
Consistently boogie I do.
Sat 7 Nov 2020
at 17:54
  • msg #399

Re: Portrait Submission

SO I'm a little confused about the portrait submission process.

I definitely play POCs, to better represent people that look like me, and had submitted a relatively high-quality, 100x100 picture back in September. It's been two rounds of portrait submissions, and I don't see them. I followed the submission rules, and was hoping to take that time every month to submit a portrait for one of my active characters. Why else would they not have been submitted in this round of submissions?
Morgan Coldsoul
member, 321 posts
29+ years RP experience
I'll forget again later
Sun 8 Nov 2020
at 02:19
  • msg #400

Re: Portrait Submission

In reply to Boogs (msg # 399):

Obviously don't know for certain which image might be the one in question, but looking back at the three most recent uploads, it seems to me (at a glance) that all the valid submissions which might fall into that category were uploaded. If you want to describe or appropriately link the pic so I know exactly what I'm looking for, I can at least verify whether or not it was in any of those batches.

It's possible that it may have simply ended up in a gallery you weren't expecting. If it was attached or embedded, the email had your RPoL username in it somewhere, and the image wasn't a duplicate or didn't violate any other rules, then I don't know why it wouldn't have made it in unless it got caught in the spam folder and I didn't see it in time. That seems unlikely to have happened two or three months in a row, however, since I may not check it every time I log in, but it is checked. We also don't have any holds in the inbox, so even if it was delayed, it ought to be in so long as it met the criteria.
Starchaser
member, 762 posts
Sun 8 Nov 2020
at 10:33
  • msg #401

Re: Portrait Submission

A long time ago I uploaded a female image and they got classified as male (presumably because they had short hair) so it does happen that portraits can go into the categories that you least expect them to be in.
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