Forum - Site & App - Anyone else getting frustrated?

matthewsos

Professional

3 weeks, 4 days ago by matthewsos

Hey! I wasn't sure where to post this, this is a bit of a rant. I've been on this site for about 2 years, and I've done a few patterns, and recently wanted to start making my own alphas, hoping I could get leveled up to bracelet king. However, I am starting to feel really discouraged by the declines and rejections. Every single pattern I have uploaded so far has been declined at least once. I only have five patterns up and I had to fight and argue just to get them posted.

I guess this wouldn't be so bad if I knew what I was doing wrong. The first pattern decline message was a simple 'too dark' mistake, whatever, no big deal, easy fix. However, today I just had five declined in a row, and the feedback for them was either a simple "can you send us a link?" and no other feedback, or "This pattern looks unfinished" and that's it. Like...how am I supposed to fix this when I don't know what's wrong? Because to me, all of my patterns are very clear, they're within the guidelines and rules, they look finished, and you are easily able to tell what/who they are and what they say (if applicable) They're designed how I want them to look.

It's hard to make some of these patterns the way I want to because of the 'no similar colors' rule. And with being unable to use a darker shade (like black or similar) a lot of the patterns I like making (marvel comic style) look ridiculous because I have to use lighter grays. So I take my time and edit my patterns, making sure that they're separate colors, not too dark (even if it looks silly) and then they still get declined with a vague response like "not finished" or they simply ask for a link.

I see other patterns uploaded that make less sense, or are less coherent than the ones I'm trying to upload, and those are all fine. But every single pattern I made has been declined at least once. I'm just getting a little frustrated at the inconsistency, and am wondering if this is happening to anyone else? (Sorry for the long post, I’m just kind of bummed out. I love this site and the community, and I really want to contribute more, but right now I’m feeling stuck.)

matthewsos

Professional

3 weeks, 4 days ago by matthewsos

Just to clarify! I don’t want to say all of the feedback I’ve received has been unhelpful. There have been a few declines where I got genuine, constructive feedback that helped me fix the pattern. I really appreciated that. But the majority of the declines I’ve gotten lately have felt pretty vague or aimless, which that — coupled with the fact it’s been every single pattern — is what’s been so frustrating to me.

halokiwi

Moderator

3 weeks, 4 days ago by halokiwi

If we moderators don't recognise something because we don't know it because it is for example from a fandom we're not in ourselves, we'll ask for a link so we can understand better what the pattern is about. This way we can check, if the pattern looks like what it is supposed to look like, if the keywords are good keywords, if the pattern is even appropriate for braceletbook. So if you submit a pattern of something that you think we mods might not know, you can submit a link or short explanation with it to help us review the pattern.

I have not seen your recent patterns but a common issue with (big) alpha patterns created from images is that some parts appear to be untweaked. They're just left how they came from "alpha from image". I'm not sure, if that might have been the case in your patterns.

https://www.braceletbook.com/tutorials/120_making-better-outlines-for-alpha-patterns/
https://www.braceletbook.com/tutorials/74_how-to-tweak-patterns/

Tikilishi

Moderator

3 weeks, 4 days ago by Tikilishi

Since many patterns, variations, and photos go through the review, when we don't recognize something, adding a link to show us what the pattern is helps us to verify that the keywords are accurate. Even if something seems very obvious or very popular, linking it just in case helps us a lot. 🙂

When a pattern seems unfinished, and the decline message links the tutorial, usually that means that there's a lot of stray pixels that appear "floating" or not attached to anything, or there's a lot of undefined lines or outlines that could be "sharpened" by making the outline one color. To be honest, sometimes I'm not sure myself when a pattern such as this comes up in the review, as sometimes the floating pixels are due to color shifts in the background. Sometimes it looks neatly and intentionally done, other times it looks a bit more random. It can be a case-by-case basis when reviewing patterns from images, as there's no one formula that can definitively say whether one might be accepted or declined, but generally, when an alpha is from an image goes through a review, it's common for it to be declined if the moderator reviewing believes that some of these things can be improved upon in some way.

With similar and dark colors, we try to keep in mind the ease of which it would be to follow the pattern instructions to tie a wallhanging/bracelet etc. If it's hard to tell where a color begins and ends using the instructions, it might be challenging for someone to tie it that way as well. We also like to try and keep the grid clearly visible for the ease of tying a lot of dark colored knots together at the same time. We almost always decline patterns with color warnings, unless the person has a compelling reason why a pattern needs to have colors that are closer together or a darker shade of black than the one we usually allow, such as with some gradients, grey themed gradients, or when a pattern that has to use a darker shade of blue.

If you use the "review notes" to communicate with us, the majority of the time we're willing to clarify or work with you to achieve a desired outcome with your pattern that both fulfills the site rules and your artistic preferences. 🙂 Ultimately, declining things isn't meant to be done personally, but as someone who's also been on the other side of the review before becoming a moderator, I can understand how getting something declined could be frustrating or upsetting. Each of us try our best to make decisions objectively and consistently, but there's always at least a little bit of nuance when it comes to art, as art is everflowing and not a linear process. When we're not sure about it, we open discussions about it with other moderators on our team, too, so you can be assured that we do our best to make sure we're doing the right thing that satisfies both mediums (the artist and the community). 🙂 Please don't hesitate to open communication with us about your patterns so that we can help. 🙂

matthewsos Professional	3 weeks, 4 days ago by matthewsos Hey! I wasn't sure where to post this, this is a bit of a rant. I've been on this site for about 2 years, and I've done a few patterns, and recently wanted to start making my own alphas, hoping I could get leveled up to bracelet king. However, I am starting to feel really discouraged by the declines and rejections. Every single pattern I have uploaded so far has been declined at least once. I only have five patterns up and I had to fight and argue just to get them posted. I guess this wouldn't be so bad if I knew what I was doing wrong. The first pattern decline message was a simple 'too dark' mistake, whatever, no big deal, easy fix. However, today I just had five declined in a row, and the feedback for them was either a simple "can you send us a link?" and no other feedback, or "This pattern looks unfinished" and that's it. Like...how am I supposed to fix this when I don't know what's wrong? Because to me, all of my patterns are very clear, they're within the guidelines and rules, they look finished, and you are easily able to tell what/who they are and what they say (if applicable) They're designed how I want them to look. It's hard to make some of these patterns the way I want to because of the 'no similar colors' rule. And with being unable to use a darker shade (like black or similar) a lot of the patterns I like making (marvel comic style) look ridiculous because I have to use lighter grays. So I take my time and edit my patterns, making sure that they're separate colors, not too dark (even if it looks silly) and then they still get declined with a vague response like "not finished" or they simply ask for a link. I see other patterns uploaded that make less sense, or are less coherent than the ones I'm trying to upload, and those are all fine. But every single pattern I made has been declined at least once. I'm just getting a little frustrated at the inconsistency, and am wondering if this is happening to anyone else? (Sorry for the long post, I’m just kind of bummed out. I love this site and the community, and I really want to contribute more, but right now I’m feeling stuck.)
matthewsos Professional	3 weeks, 4 days ago by matthewsos Just to clarify! I don’t want to say all of the feedback I’ve received has been unhelpful. There have been a few declines where I got genuine, constructive feedback that helped me fix the pattern. I really appreciated that. But the majority of the declines I’ve gotten lately have felt pretty vague or aimless, which that — coupled with the fact it’s been every single pattern — is what’s been so frustrating to me.
halokiwi Moderator	3 weeks, 4 days ago by halokiwi If we moderators don't recognise something because we don't know it because it is for example from a fandom we're not in ourselves, we'll ask for a link so we can understand better what the pattern is about. This way we can check, if the pattern looks like what it is supposed to look like, if the keywords are good keywords, if the pattern is even appropriate for braceletbook. So if you submit a pattern of something that you think we mods might not know, you can submit a link or short explanation with it to help us review the pattern. I have not seen your recent patterns but a common issue with (big) alpha patterns created from images is that some parts appear to be untweaked. They're just left how they came from "alpha from image". I'm not sure, if that might have been the case in your patterns. https://www.braceletbook.com/tutorials/120_making-better-outlines-for-alpha-patterns/ https://www.braceletbook.com/tutorials/74_how-to-tweak-patterns/
Tikilishi Moderator	3 weeks, 4 days ago by Tikilishi Since many patterns, variations, and photos go through the review, when we don't recognize something, adding a link to show us what the pattern is helps us to verify that the keywords are accurate. Even if something seems very obvious or very popular, linking it just in case helps us a lot. 🙂 When a pattern seems unfinished, and the decline message links the tutorial, usually that means that there's a lot of stray pixels that appear "floating" or not attached to anything, or there's a lot of undefined lines or outlines that could be "sharpened" by making the outline one color. To be honest, sometimes I'm not sure myself when a pattern such as this comes up in the review, as sometimes the floating pixels are due to color shifts in the background. Sometimes it looks neatly and intentionally done, other times it looks a bit more random. It can be a case-by-case basis when reviewing patterns from images, as there's no one formula that can definitively say whether one might be accepted or declined, but generally, when an alpha is from an image goes through a review, it's common for it to be declined if the moderator reviewing believes that some of these things can be improved upon in some way. With similar and dark colors, we try to keep in mind the ease of which it would be to follow the pattern instructions to tie a wallhanging/bracelet etc. If it's hard to tell where a color begins and ends using the instructions, it might be challenging for someone to tie it that way as well. We also like to try and keep the grid clearly visible for the ease of tying a lot of dark colored knots together at the same time. We almost always decline patterns with color warnings, unless the person has a compelling reason why a pattern needs to have colors that are closer together or a darker shade of black than the one we usually allow, such as with some gradients, grey themed gradients, or when a pattern that has to use a darker shade of blue. If you use the "review notes" to communicate with us, the majority of the time we're willing to clarify or work with you to achieve a desired outcome with your pattern that both fulfills the site rules and your artistic preferences. 🙂 Ultimately, declining things isn't meant to be done personally, but as someone who's also been on the other side of the review before becoming a moderator, I can understand how getting something declined could be frustrating or upsetting. Each of us try our best to make decisions objectively and consistently, but there's always at least a little bit of nuance when it comes to art, as art is everflowing and not a linear process. When we're not sure about it, we open discussions about it with other moderators on our team, too, so you can be assured that we do our best to make sure we're doing the right thing that satisfies both mediums (the artist and the community). 🙂 Please don't hesitate to open communication with us about your patterns so that we can help. 🙂

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