oekaki thumbnails discussion {READ FIRST POST}

[caster.]

That's honestly ridiculous and should count as messing with someone's artwork. If you don't want the content on the site, I think the user should be informed and given time to save their art if they didn't. Otherwise what? They're just out of luck? Nah, next.

[Silver Pandorica]

Thank goodness this is finally being addressed. I've had issues with the way oekaki is moderated for a long time, and it really is something that needs to be discussed. I would like to apologize in advance if I bring up any points that have already been addressed, I merely skimmed the thread and only read maybe a few pages in full detail. I would also like to apologize if I come off as rude or angry. I won't lie, this is a frustrating subject for me, but I really do appreciate the time the mods dedicate to the site and all of us users. I just think that there is a lot of room for improvements.

I feel like the staff has to be willing to work with the community on things like this.

First of all, this. I've noticed that in this thread, a lot of valid points are simply being ignored or not responded to. Cervidae + some other users made some absolutely great points that really encapsulate the issue here, and yet these posts were skipped over and ignored. Isn't this site supposed to be fun and enjoyable for everyone? The userbase is giving feedback on what we perceive to be an issue, and it seems like the mods are trying to sweep it under the rug and hope it is going away. That is not going to happen. An enormous percentage of the userbase participates in all things art and oekaki, and I have seen many people, including myself, that have stated something along the lines of "I'm giving away all my pets and only staying for oekaki" or "Semi-quitting but will stay for adopts" or "I would quit if it weren't for some awesome artists on here." Shouldn't the site be working towards creating an environment that everyone can enjoy and not feel so constrained? It's honestly intimidating to try and use oekaki these days because you never know if it will be taken down for some loophole in the rule.

Bias

I have seen someone's art be taken down only to see several other similar "rule-breaking" pieces remain up with no consequences whatsoever. I understand the mods cannot be everywhere at once, but this is honestly just unfair. Why should only those reported get taken down? And many people do not want to report because they respect and love the artist and don't want to see their lovely art get locked for some miniscule thing that may or may not be breaking the rules. There are so many inconsistencies with the rules that it has be wide-eyed in awe staring at my computer screen. There is undoubtedly some favoritism here, as well. I've been called out for something that really wasn't breaking any rules, and then I turn around and see a popular artist post something some might find too disturbing or violent, and yet...nothing. No consequences whatsoever, even though their piece (by the same rule that other pieces have been taken down for) breaks the rules.

There is certainly unconscious (if not conscious) bias with whose pieces are locked and for what reasons. (Same thing goes for other rules that I have an issue with, but that is for another topic of discussion on another day). Why are some people allowed to get away with everything while others get reported or locked or warnings for something that literally dozens of other artists are doing? If you are going to have strict rules (and the rules on this site are very, very strict and constraining), then they need to be consistent. This is a huge issue with the oekaki boards and I think that the rules either need to be edited to be more relaxed, or everyone needs to be called out for breaking them.

Reporting

The few mods that have responded to people on this thread have told users to report something when they see it breaking a very minor rule. But all that does is perpetuate the frustration of the userbase, shut down traffic for the skilled and hard-working artists, and makes people feel bad. I would feel awful for reporting someone and getting them a warning or their topic locked for something so...minor. I know reporting is anonymous, but that doesn't change the fact that when you report an artist for something ridiculous, you are undermining their hard work and efforts.

Mods, this is a genuine question. Do you truly wish for me and other users to report people for these things? For covers and for other, not clearly explained and defined oekaki rules? In spite of all the blurred guidelines and bias? Because I am totally willing to do this in order to help the mods be able to catch things they may not see otherwise, but it will result in a massive amount of objectively harmless oekaki posts getting locked.

And on the main point of this thread, I do not believe the thread in the first post should have been locked. The artist clearly put a lot of work into that piece, and C4C threads are honestly what oekaki is thriving off of over the past month or so. Why lock it? It is beautiful art, and no one was bothered by the C4C thread. People actively participate in these, and for several reasons other people have already stated on this thread, it is better for them to stay on oekaki rather than move to a forum where no one will see it or participate.

Once again, I sincerely apologize if I come across as rude or harsh. I just think this issue (among many others) has been ignored for far too long, and it will only continue to get worse if it isn't dealt with and addressed. Thank you if you took the time to read this, I truly appreciate it and hope that this can all get worked out in a way that satisfies everyone.

[cervidae]

The rule, I assure you, was never changed. People have just been breaking it for a long time, and it wouldn't be an issue of being enforced if people just followed it in the first place.

Please lock this then, please be consistent.
I recieved a warning for having a word on the above cover (which was entirely justified, that was my bad!! and im thankful dia made me aware of it bc it totally slipped my mind) but not the nature of the cover. I bring this up because this piece was reviewed by a mod, who asked me to remove the word, not comment on the cover itself. The mods are doing the best they can, and are trying to tackle issues that they are presented with, i understand this. but what I don't understand is why I was messaged about one thing, but not another.

-snip-

Edit:: i apologize if my tone seemed confrontational or rude!! i mean no disrespect to the mod team whatsoever, and appreciate yall! i'm coming from a place of concern, not anger, and i apologize if my wording betrayed that!!

bumping this if that's alright, because i'm genuinely confused considering how recent this was :flushed:
thank you for taking the time to communicate with the community though, i appreciate how staff are trying to become more involved when it comes to user concerns like this -- your efforts aren't unseen, and it's comforting to see that staff is slowly bridging the gap between the userbase and the moderation of the site ♡♡

big edit to say that i urge the mod team to consider silver pandorica's post, because i feel as if it communicates the feelings of myself, and many of the art-based users on this site far better than i could
the lack of change for a rule that many of the userbase have pointed out is detrimental and bizzare is.. concerning

[emh]

Well, since we're on the topic of covers and off Oekaki art that's gone unlocked...

-snip-

*You claiming otherwise while other staff members are/were supposedly breaking them during their own time on staff is not fine - If these rules were legitimate, existed as they currently are, and being upheld by staff at the time, they should certainly be following them themselves, or otherwise should have been demoted from their positions for failing to follow the rules that they were supposed to enforce.

I'm reposting this, just cause I feel like this needs to be addressed by a staff member cause of the heavy double bias they seem to have. Seeing as we're being told this has 'always been enforced', but somehow, it's okay for staff to do it themselves?

The cover rule was addressed in 2015 in response to the influx of things being posted on the Oekaki that weren't created using the Oekaki program, so it's quite unfair to bring up old posts that break rules that were not in place at the time. -snip-

Thank you for your reply, seasonal, it means a lot that mods are hearing us and trying to help.

But, I believe the main reason why off oekaki adopts aren't posted in the art gallery, is because they don't gain nearly enough traction, and therefore, fall behind.

Especially with the c4c post's, where you are usually expected to color it in to get a character back, it can be confusing for both person who made the c4c, and the person who made the entry.

As amalthea. showed in this post, the oekaki board is being filled by more "color this to get this" entrys then c4c entries, which seems a lot more, spammy(?) then off oekaki c4c entries with a cover.
Especially since c4c entries take a longer time, and usually have more effort put into them, just to be locked, while the "color this get this" entries usually take a couple minutes, and still run around without a lock.

[beestie]

snip

I will stress this point again. If something wasn't made using the Oekaki program, it doesn't belong in the Oekaki boards; it belongs in the art gallery board. Putting work into a cover but posting your actual piece below the cover does not exempt you from this rule.

snip

the off-oekaki artists are speaking up and stating they do not feel their art is seen or is even worth posting in the art gallery board because no one tends to go there. it's as easy as creating a new board in the oekaki forums for off-oekaki artists - it helps off-oekaki artists be seen and be involved in the community. that's something we'd like done, and we have a valid reason to be asking for such a thing to be implemented. it's in one place, and we're able to be seen. require people to draw a stupid doodle for the cover, or add a text function to oekaki in order to make it less spammy, but we just want to be able to participate and be acknowledged as much as on-oekaki artists here.

[ford]

i'll again bring up a suggestion of my own.

overhaul the off-oekaki board and make it the same structure as the oekaki ones.
let us upload our own art and have it in a gallery style format! maybe let us crosspost to other galleries so we can add entries to c4cs and myos? i don't know how possible it is, but seeing as it's possible to move things out of subgalleries, i'm guessing it would be possible to add to one?
right now, the off-oekaki board is a graveyard that gets no attention simply because the format for art is so bad.
all i want at this point is a compromise, and i feel like this would be a great way to fix the issue. i feel it wouldn't be harder to moderate, as we can already upload our own images with bbcode, only this would be so much neater and easier to use.

[emh]

i'll again bring up a suggestion of my own.

overhaul the off-oekaki board and make it the same structure as the oekaki ones.
let us upload our own art and have it in a gallery style format! maybe let us crosspost so we can add entries to off oekakis and myos!
right now, the off-oekaki board is a graveyard that gets no attention simply because the format for art is so bad.
all i want at this point is a compromise, and i feel like this would be a great way to fix the issue. i feel it wouldn't be harder to moderate, as we can already upload our own images with bbcode, only this would be so much neater and easier to use.

As an off oekaki artist, I second this!

[caster.]

i'll again bring up a suggestion of my own.

overhaul the off-oekaki board and make it the same structure as the oekaki ones.
let us upload our own art and have it in a gallery style format! maybe let us crosspost so we can add entries to c4cs and myos!
right now, the off-oekaki board is a graveyard that gets no attention simply because the format for art is so bad.
all i want at this point is a compromise, and i feel like this would be a great way to fix the issue. i feel it wouldn't be harder to moderate, as we can already upload our own images with bbcode, only this would be so much neater and easier to use.

I second this

E: third this?? Lol asdfghjkl;
I agreeee

[Silver Pandorica]

snip

I will stress this point again. If something wasn't made using the Oekaki program, it doesn't belong in the Oekaki boards; it belongs in the art gallery board. Putting work into a cover but posting your actual piece below the cover does not exempt you from this rule.

snip

the off-oekaki artists are speaking up and stating they do not feel their art is seen or is even worth posting in the art gallery board because no one tends to go there. it's as easy as creating a new board in the oekaki forums for off-oekaki artists - it helps off-oekaki artists be seen and be involved in the community. that's something we'd like done, and we have a valid reason to be asking for such a thing to be implemented. it's in one place, and we're able to be seen. require people to draw a stupid doodle for the cover, or add a text function to oekaki in order to make it less spammy, but we just want to be able to participate and be acknowledged as much as on-oekaki artists here.

i'll again bring up a suggestion of my own.

overhaul the off-oekaki board and make it the same structure as the oekaki ones.
let us upload our own art and have it in a gallery style format! maybe let us crosspost so we can add entries to off oekakis and myos!
right now, the off-oekaki board is a graveyard that gets no attention simply because the format for art is so bad.
all i want at this point is a compromise, and i feel like this would be a great way to fix the issue. i feel it wouldn't be harder to moderate, as we can already upload our own images with bbcode, only this would be so much neater and easier to use.

As an off oekaki artist, I second this!

This, omg! No one posts on those boards because no one will see it. Or why not just make another oekaki board for things with covers? What's the actual harm in that? I really don't understand why this is an issue.

[superfruit!]

i'll again bring up a suggestion of my own.

overhaul the off-oekaki board and make it the same structure as the oekaki ones.
let us upload our own art and have it in a gallery style format! maybe let us crosspost to other galleries so we can add entries to c4cs and myos? i don't know how possible it is, but seeing as it's possible to move things out of subgalleries, i'm guessing it would be possible to add to one?
right now, the off-oekaki board is a graveyard that gets no attention simply because the format for art is so bad.
all i want at this point is a compromise, and i feel like this would be a great way to fix the issue. i feel it wouldn't be harder to moderate, as we can already upload our own images with bbcode, only this would be so much neater and easier to use.

seconding this as well