How to Moderate Submissions

Moderation is how the community protects the quality of the Games Database. As a moderator, your job is to decide whether a submitted change makes the database more accurate, consistent, and useful for LaunchBox and Big Box users.

You are not expected to know every game by memory. Good moderation is careful review: read the submission, compare the old and new values, check the submitter's reason, verify against trustworthy sources when needed, and use the moderation guidelines when the answer is not obvious.

Open the moderation queue

Sign in to your Games Database account and open Moderation from your account area. If your account has moderator access, the page will show the next available submission for you to review.

The queue works one submission at a time. Each page shows a change set, which is a group of related changes from one submission. A change set may contain one field change, several metadata changes, a new image, an image replacement, a deletion request, or a new game with related images and alternate names.

The page may also show the moderation queue length so you can see how much is waiting for review.

Read the submission before deciding

Start by reading the submission type and the submitter's Reason. The reason should explain what changed and why. Use it as context, but do not rely on it by itself.

Then review the actual values shown on the page. For metadata changes, compare the Old Value and Updated Value. For image changes, open the image preview and check the image type, region, dimensions, format, and quality. For new games or deletion requests, review the game details and any similar or linked games shown on the page.

If a change affects naming, metadata, alternate names, release information, or deletion, refer to Moderation Guidelines Reference. If it affects images, refer to Image Standards and Requirements.

Review game metadata changes

For normal game updates, decide whether each changed field improves the record. Check whether the new value is accurate for the specific game and platform, not just for a different version of the game.

Look closely at:

• Title: Does it match the official title for that platform? Avoid title changes made only for sorting or personal preference.

• Platform: Is the game attached to the correct system?

• Release date/year: Is the date specific and supported? If only the year is known, a year-only value is better than a guessed full date.

• Developer and publisher: Do they match the specific release being edited?

• Genres and game type: Are they accurate without being overly broad?

• Overview: Is it neutral, useful, and not copied marketing text?

• Links: Do Wikipedia or video links point to the specific game rather than a broad franchise page?

Use Accept for a specific field when the change is correct. Use Reject for a specific field when it is wrong, unsupported, unclear, or does not follow the guidelines.

Review alternate name changes

Alternate names help LaunchBox match games during import, so they are worth reviewing carefully. A good alternate name is a regional title, official spelling variation, historical title, translated title, or common title that users may actually have in their library.

For example, a regional name like Biohazard for Resident Evil, Final Fantasy III for a release later known as Final Fantasy VI, or Kirby's Fun Pak for Kirby Super Star can be useful when correctly applied.

Reject alternate names that are personal labels, ROM set tags, file naming clutter, jokes, unsupported abbreviations, or names that belong to a different game. If the alternate name is region-specific, check that the selected region makes sense.

Review new game submissions

New game submissions need an extra duplicate check. The moderation page may show Existing Games with Similar Titles. Review that list before approving the new game.

Open likely matches in a new tab and compare the title, platform, release details, overview, and images. If the game already exists, reject the new submission using the relevant duplicate option, such as REJECT: Game already exists.

Approve a new game only when it is a valid game entry, belongs on the selected platform, and does not already exist as a correct record. If the submission includes images or alternate names, review those as part of the same decision.

Use ACCEPT: Game is valid and does not already exist when the whole new-game submission is valid. Use the reject option that best explains the issue when it is not.

Review image additions and replacements

For image submissions, check whether the image belongs to the game, whether the selected image type is correct, whether the region is appropriate, and whether the image quality improves the database.

Open the image preview when you need to inspect it more closely. The moderation page shows useful details such as image type, region, dimensions, format, and file size.

Use Image Standards and Requirements when reviewing file type rules, transparency requirements, icon size, square/poster ratios, reconstructed artwork, fanart categories, screenshots, box spines, and region choices.

For replacements, make sure the new image is a better version of the same asset. A cleaner North America front box scan can replace a blurry North America front box scan. A Japan cover, back cover, fanart version, or different screenshot should usually be added separately instead of replacing an existing image.

Use Accept New Image, Accept Changes, or Accept Delete when the image submission is valid for the action being reviewed. Use the matching reject button when the image is wrong, low quality, incorrectly typed, incorrectly regioned, duplicated, or attached to the wrong game.

Review image deletion requests

Approve image deletion only when the image should not remain on the game record. Common valid reasons include a duplicate image, an image for the wrong game, a badly corrupted file, an obvious watermark problem, or media placed in a clearly wrong record.

Reject deletion when the image is useful and correctly attached, even if it is not perfect. If a better version exists, replacement is usually better than deletion.

Use Accept Delete when the image should be removed. Use Reject Delete when it should stay.

Review game deletion requests

Deletion removes a game record from the shared database, so review these carefully. Start by reading the reason and opening the game being deleted.

If the request is for a duplicate, compare it against the linked game that should remain. The correct record should usually have the better title, correct platform, better metadata, or better existing usage. Do not approve deletion unless you are confident the submitted game should be removed.

If the reason is that the entry is not a game or should not exist for another reason, verify that claim before approving. Missing metadata or missing images are not deletion reasons; those should be fixed with edits.

Use the delete approval option only when the game really should be removed. Reject the deletion if the record is valid or if the evidence is not strong enough.

Accept or reject individual changes

Some submissions contain multiple individual changes. When the page shows separate Accept and Reject buttons beside each field, review each field on its own.

Use Accept for fields that are correct and useful. Use Reject for fields that are incorrect, unsupported, unclear, or entered in the wrong place. When you reject a change, the site asks for a reason. Write a short explanation that helps the submitter and future moderators understand the decision.

Good rejection reasons are specific, such as Release date appears to be for the PlayStation version, not the Windows version or Alternate name includes ROM set tags, not an actual title.

Accept all or reject all

Use Accept All only when every part of the change set is correct. This is convenient for submissions where all fields clearly improve the record.

Use Reject All only when the submission is broadly invalid, such as a new game that already exists, a set of changes applied to the wrong game, or an image submission where the core asset is wrong.

If a mixed submission has some good fields and some bad fields, accept and reject the individual changes instead of using all-or-nothing controls.

Skip when you are not sure

If you cannot confidently review a submission, select SKIP: Ignore this request for 24h. Skipping does not approve or reject the submission. It simply moves you to another item and leaves the skipped one for later or for another moderator.

Skip when you need more context, do not know the platform well enough, cannot verify the source, are unsure about a regional image, or think another moderator may be better suited to review it.

What happens after you vote

Your moderation action records your approval or rejection for the change. In normal moderation, a change needs 3 matching moderator votes before it is finalized: 3 approvals to apply it, or 3 rejections to reject it. Some high-impact flows, such as game deletion, may require an additional Tier 2 review before the deletion is completed. Once enough approvals are reached, approved changes become part of the public Games Database. Rejected changes do not apply to the public record.

After you act on the current item, the moderation page moves on to the next available submission or shows that the queue is empty.

Good moderation habits

• Moderate for LaunchBox and Big Box users, not personal preference.

• Verify changes against trustworthy sources when the answer is not obvious.

• Use Moderation Guidelines Reference for naming, metadata, alternate names, duplicates, and deletion decisions.

• Use Image Standards and Requirements for image type, region, file format, transparency, size, and quality decisions.

• Accept good individual changes even if another field in the same submission should be rejected.

• Write clear rejection reasons.

• Skip instead of guessing.