Peer
Review
This is a guide to
help you understand what Peer review is, how to prepare for
it, what to expect from it, and how to participate in it.
Note: this document
will briefly explain the issues Content Creators have with Peer
Review but not will not be fully delving into the politics of
Peer Review. This is merely a Peer Review survival guide.
Abbreviations
that will want to be familiar with that will be used in this
document and in Peer Review discussions you may read.
PR, Peer
Review: The process of pre-screening products before
they go live in the IMVU catalog.
GA, General Audience: Content all IMVU users
can view and use.
AP, Access Pass: Content only those over
18 and that have purchased an Access Pass can view and use.
UFI, Unfit for IMVU. Content IMVU has deemed
inappropriate for the IMVU website and experience.
VGP, Virtual Goods Policy. The guidelines
that define what content is and is not appropriate for IMVU.
MCG, Minimum Coverage Guide. The skin that
shows what areas of the skin MUST be not be viewable for an
item to be GA.
CC, Content Creator. A user who makes products
on IMVU
CS, Customer Service. IMVU staff who make
final rulings on catalog content.
What
is Peer Review
Peer Review is
IMVU's method of pre screening products for compliance to
the site's Virtual
Goods Content Policy and a product's functionality.
Every product in
the catalog must be pre-screened before it will be available
for sale in the catalog, available for gifting, or seen by
others in chat.
You peers, that
is other content creators, will pre-screen your product and
its product page and will give it a pass or fail vote based
on VGP compliance.
All content creators
above the age of 18 are asked to participate in the Peer Review
process. This age limit is to protect minors from exposure
to adult content that is regularly attempted to be submitted
in the General Audience Catalog.
Common
Misconceptions About Peer Review
My product
passed Peer Review so it cannot be flagged. FALSE
Peer review is only a pre-screening, it does not guarantee
your product or product page actually is VGP compliant.
The product
I purchased passed Peer Review so it will not be re-rated
or taken away from me. FALSE
Peer Review does not guarantee the product you purchased is
rated properly nor does it guarantee there is no Copyright
or Trademark infringement that may get the product removed
from the catalog.
Peer review
is for screening out Copy Written and Trademarked products.
FALSE, peer review is SOLELY for measuring
products against the VGP issues listed on the Peer Review
page. Copyright and TM infringement claims can only be issued
by the parties the items were stolen from.
Most
Common Issues that will make a product fail Peer Review
Incomplete
Icons and Confusing Product Descriptions: If your
products Icon or product page is not complete your product
may fail Peer Review. 'Coming Soon' and other placeholder
images that confuse the viewer and misrepresent what the product
is can fail.
MCG Failure:
For General Audience items if ANY red pixels show
when you try on the MCG skin (minimum coverage guide), your
product should fail peer review. Common areas missed are the
groin, bottom, and under 3D layers. If your product has layers,
ALL layers MUST be MCG compliant. Just because a skirt or
top has a layer covering the breasts or groin does not make
it compliant. Camera though all areas of your garment to see
if ANY red can be seen, if can it your garment fails the General
Audience MCG.
Inappropriate
Product Page Content: Not only must your product
pass, your product page must pass too. Many times a product
is fully compliant but a poorly chosen product shot or banner
image will cause an item to fail. If your product is GA each
and every item on your product page must also be GA compliant.
Show skins in MCG complaint clothing, keep racy images to
AP items only.
How
do I submit my product for Peer Review
Once your Product and its Product page are FULLY completed
and ready for public consumption hit the 'Click here to Publish
it Link' in the red box at the top of the product page.
DO
NOT PUBLISH AN INCOMPLETE PAGE! Peer Review
is clogged enough with finished products, adding products
and product pages that are not yet complete just clogs the
system as they will be resubmitted to peer review when you
make any product page change. Be considerate to your fellow
devs and those doing peer review and don't waste their time
by submitting incomplete work.
One you click publish
the waiting game begins. Peer Review can take several days
to complete as there are far fewer Content Creators reviewing
than there are submitting products.
You can track the
status of your item during the Peer Review process by clicking
the link at the top of its page. (currently borken)
You do not need
a 100% score to pass just a clear majority. If your votes
are not clear one way or another the product will be sent
to staff for a final decision.
Note:
If you have received just one fail but your product passed
you should still take a look at your product closely. That
one fail may have been the only person that truly looked at
your item. Just because your item was passed does not mean
the product is immune from flagging or won't be failed upon
staff review. You and not your review score are responsible
for being VGP complaint, and you not your reviewers will be
held fiscally responsible for product refunds if the product
is later found to be incompetent and removed from use.
My Product Failed Peer
Review
If your product
failed Peer Review, you have three options...
Live with
it: If the item is truly AP and altering it to make
it GA will change the product just leave it as AP. The AP
customer base can be a lucrative market. If the item is truly
UFI you need to get more familiar with what content IMVU allows
and what it doesn't.
Repair
it: If its just a minor product tweak needed, or
an improper product page image issue you can fix the problem
and then email [email protected] notifying them of the
repair and ask for a case review.
Contest
it: If you feel your product has been unjustly failed
you can contest the ruling by emailing [email protected].
Be sure you have fully examined your product and its page
against the VGP before you do so. You may also want to get
a second opinion. The IMVU CC forum users are often very helpful
in explaining VGP issues your product may have that you do
not see. Just be sure not to post any AP or UFI images to
the forums. Links to an AP product page are okay as only AP
holders can see them.
Note:
About 90% of the users who claim their clothing was unjustly
re-rated in the forums had products that failed the MCG or
had items on their product page images that would fail the
MCG.
How
to Participate in Peer Review
If you are over
18 and a Content Creator you are asked to actively participate
in Peer Review. The more people that participate, and do so
conscientiously, will speed up the approval process for everyone.
Remember many of our developers are minors and cannot participate
so everyone who is of age will need to review more items than
they submits to get everything though the process in a timely
manner.
First and foremost
you must be familiar with the VGP and the MCG. You should
already be familiar with them as all your products should
be abiding by them.
Next make sure
your IMVU client is up to date and running in the background.
You will need the client running to pre screen 3D items. It
is a good idea to go into DND 'Do Not Disturb' mode so you
are not interrupted with chat invites when reviewing.
Once you feel comfortable
with the polices go to the IMVU website and go to the 'Create'
section. Under 'Manage' you will see Peer Review. Click on
that and you will be taken to an item to review.
Note: If you have multiple users on your
computer or have multiple IMVU accounts you will want to verify
you are logged in as the CC account you want to earn credit
for reviewing on.
The Peer Review Page
On the Peer
Review page you will see three tabs, you will want to
explore these before you begin.
Review
a Product Tab: This tab displays an item to
be reviewed.
The First section
shows the item's Location in the catalog, Name, Icon, and
the Product's Description box.
Below that is
the Peer Review checklist. Any box you check will fail the
item.
The Main categorizes
for failure are:
Product
Submission Problems: This is for such issues
the product submitted is not the same product represented
by its product page.
Technical
Problems: This is for when a product doesn't
load or is broken in some manner. Try loading the product
3 times before failing an item for not loading, as many
times this is an IMVU client issue and not a product issue.
Sex
or Obscenity: This encompasses sexual content,
nudity, MCG failures, Profanity.
Violence:
This encompasses gross depictions of Blood, Gore
and Violent Acts.
Gambling:
This encompass' ACTUAL wagering. this is for if the product
or product page links to a site that has online wagering
or gambling. Simulated gambling, such as a poker tables
or slot machines that do not require actual wagering are
allowed.
Alcohol
Tobacco and Drugs: All tobacco and Alcohol use
is AP only. Drug use and paraphernalia is not allowed.
Abuse:
Any representation of abuse is not allowed.
Suicide:
Any representation of suicide is not allowed.
Personal
Info: Any product made to slander or defame another
User, Person, or Staff member is not allowed.
At the bottom
of the page is where you confirm your vote or pass on voting.
If you have not
checked any box there will be a 'Product passes' box. This
is what you click to confirm that you believe this item
is VGP complaint.
If you have checked
one or more of the failure reasons this will be a red 'Product
fails' box. This is what you click to confirm that you believe
this item is NOT VGP complaint.
There is also
a 'Skip this product' option. You may select this option
if you are not sure about an item or are uncomfortable with
voting on an item.
My
Review History Tab:
Here is were
you see the most recent items you have reviewed and how
others have scored the same items, they are broken into
4 sections. It is recommended you take this page not too
literally as there is much controversy about it, but before
I delve into that first an overview of what you are looking
at...
Pending:
These are items still in the review process and needing
more votes to pass or fail.
Your
Correct Votes: these are items that the majority
of your peers agreed with your vote on.
Your
Incorrect Votes: these are items that the majority
of your peers did not agree with your vote on.
Your
Canceled Votes: these are times that someone has
made changes to the product or its page during the review
process thus canceling out your and all others votes.
You can click
on any item to see a more detailed breakdown of the votes.
Now for
a bit of explanation of the problems with this page...
In short the
'Correct' and 'Incorrect' scores are based on you against
your peers not based on actual accuracy. Its as if someone
were to hold up a red card and asks everyone to vote on
what color is. You say red but everyone else says blue.
The end score is that you were 'wrong' because everyone
else said it was blue, even though it was truly red. Well
ain't that just frustrating as heck! Welcome to Peer Review!!!
Many, often
times it seems the majority, of people doing peer review
either do not fully understand the VGP, don't actually
look at the items in 3D preview, or just don't like the
idea of Peer Review and are passing everything to make
a statement about the process. What this means to those
doing Peer Review accurately is that your Peer Review
'Correct' and 'Incorrect' scores do not actually represent
your accuracy at peer review.
At the writing
of this document IMVU insists on making this false 'accuracy'
score count towards Tier level points, in spite that the
system as it is today is incredibly flawed. As it stands
now it punishes those doing review the right way with
a negative score while letting thousands of products a
day pass into the system with a perceived green light
that should not have. Points WILL be taken off your score
even though the product you voted fail on truly should
have been failed.
My personal
mindset has been, just to keep doing it the right way
and shake my head at the whole system. My personal Accuracy
rating varies between 70-90%. I choose instead to be proud
of my 'Incorrect Votes' and Tier score be dammed.
The IMVU Content
Creator Forums has many threads on and about this flawed
system. If you wish to discuss or debate Peer Review that
is the venue to do so.
If you wish
to contact IMVU directly about the Peer Review system
you may email feedback to [email protected]. They
are well aware of this issues with the system and promise
they are working on solutions.
FAQ Tab:
This is just
a brief about Peer Review section. It has a few common questions
and contact information for support
How
to Review an Item
Go to the Review
a product tab.
Note:
If this doesn't load you may have to reload the Peer Review
page from the Create Page. There are several navigation issues
with Peer Review pages not loading properly.
You will be presented
with a product to review, this may be presented a GA item
or if you are an Access Pass holder an AP item. You will want
to note whether this is to be an AP item as they have less
stringent rules.
First Look at the
product name, is it appropriate?
Next Look at the
Icon, is it appropriate?
Now look at the
product's description. Is it appropriate ? Images are not
necessary here. The description can be as simple as 'blond
hair'. As long as the product is blond hair that is a pass.
If there are images
here, is every image and the language used in them appropriate?
If the item is
to be GA are all the items and clothing used in the advertising
also GA?
Many times a product
is complaint but the graphics on the description are not.
You must measure all of the contents of the products advertising
against the VGP.
If the product
is a 3D item you next will have a 'View Product in 3D' option,
click this and the IMVU Peer Review room will load as well
as the product in question. All 3D products should be screened
in 3D to verify the cfl works, they are the same product the
product page says it is, and for VGP compliance.
For GA garments
you must complete a MCG coverage check. The model in the room
will be wearing the MCG skin. In order to do a complete check
you will have to camera in, around and even though the garment
to check for red pixels. If any red areas are rendering, no
matter how hidden from view they are, the product fails.
Voting
If everything checks
out and you didn’t mark anything off you will have a
green Product Passes button.
If you have found
issues and checked them off you will instead have a red Product
Fails button.
Click that button
and you have submitted your vote.
If you are ever
unsure if a product should pass or fail or are uncomfortable
about voting on it for any reason then you may hit the ‘Skip
this product’ button to skip that product.
Once the vote or
skip is clicked a new product will be presented to you for
review.
I hope this guide
helped clear up many of the confusions and frustrations about
the Peer Review system.
It’s far form
the best solution but its what we’ve got so we have to
deal with it. Every over 18 content creator is free to chose
their level of participation in the system.
I personally want
thank those who take the time to do Peer Review as intended,
a method to prescreen products for appropriate content before
they go live to the users at large. Remember many of our users
are minors and this, when done correctly and thoroughly, is
a method to protect them for content they should not have access
too.