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That is why I stopped helping with images. Some people have no integrity, Some people think they can do what they want. The problem is there is no downfall for doing it wrong and it wastes people's time that truly want to help the website to be better. Admit leaves up to the people to do the work and does not inforces the rules.  We see how that fails on the news nowadays.

No point in having rules if they are not inforced. If the fire does not burn, you will keep sticking your hand in and just laugh.

There really should be a punishment for loading up bad images consistently.  People complain about it, nothing is done about it and the website takes the hit every time.

I found I was wasting my time in trying to help the site with the images. So I just did cards I had that where missing. But I've even stopped doing that. What is the point of me doing what I do best for a website that does not care?  I also know I'm not the only one that has stopped bothering to help with the images. Because I see it's only getting worse. 

Dan, thanks for providing that link to page 7 of a 2018 thread. Unfortunately, Admin's post in a 2-year-old forum thread does not make it offical TCDb forum policy. It needs to put in the TCDb FAQ or in the still-under-construction User Manual soon. It's great that Admin has said in a forum post that mockups are NOT allowed. And yet, the mockup issue is still unresolved, members are discouraged and question whether it is worth uploading images anymore. As I asked in the 2nd post of this thread,

• Is there an official TCDb guideline/policy regarding mockups that I missed?
• As far as scarcer cards, if we submit IRs to have mockups removed, what's to stop the point farmers from re-uploading their mockup images?
• Do point farmers lose their points if their mockups are removed?
• Have any point farmers ever been suspended/banned from TCDb?
• Are there any serious consequences for those who habitually upload mockup images?

I get the strong impression that only Admin can address these questions. I'll PM Admin to see if he can resolve these issues.

On your second question regarding how to stop the re-uploading of images, for repeat offenders, I have messaged users individually explaining that mockups are not allowed and linking them to the forum thread where this has been discussed in the past. I realize that this in not the ideal solution and is only a stop gap measure.

To gain permission to add scans, any mock-upper had to read the proper procedure to add scans and then pass a test.  I believe the rules for adding a scan were there.  I don't  believe the words copy and paste appear anywhere there.  I believe that what is said in that tutorial is the official guideline/policy.  It's probably not in the FAQs because it doesn't apply to just any person who visits the site.  It's part of the training for leveling up.

Thanks for your thoughtful response. I'm impressed that you take the time and effort to message those repeat offenders. Kudos to you!

Like others here, I do not like seeing TCDb's integrity compromised. And so far nobody has what it takes to stop it cold.

Good news. I PM'd Admin on Tuesday 8/4 and he responded a bit later that day:

Hello Andy, posting an image of a mockup for a card is akin to posting the wrong image.  All reported wrong images are removed from the site and points are removed.

I think the key word here is "reported". So there are consequences for point farmers if we report their illegitimate images.

Admin also added more "teeth" to TCDb:

The example above can be found in the Image Guidelines.

As Dan mentioned earlier, mockups have been discussed before. But now Dan and the other dedicated TCDb volunteers can refer others to the Image Guidelines and Permissions Guidelines. (My apologies to switzr1 regarding the permissions guidelines/tutorials--there are links to the Permissions Guidelines and I don't recall them being there before after I obtained those permissions.)

That is good news. Thanks for reaching out to the Admin and glad to see that information is now in the image guidelines!

I may be wrong but I don't think so.  Though submitting poor images that need work by others to get it to the standard required may lower their score, it does not lower their point totals.  The score it lowers is the "score" required to be able to self-approve images.  Therefore point farmers won't really care about this as they are already self-approving their own images they upload.  The only "penalty" they suffer is losing the points when an image is removed.

Good work, Andy! Thanks for reporting back on what happened. I have never seen Admin deny removing a mock-up image.

WARNING! THERE ARE PROJECT 2020 IMAGES IN QUEUE! WARNING!