Please note that these rules have been adapted since the archiving of all past topics and the end of Bionicle. Most of the following is condensed from the old rules; the major changes are highlighted in green and the biggest are in large text.
1. Obey all general BZPower rules, as found in the Reference Desk. In particular, do not flame, spam, or use meaningless number ratings; for more see rules 2-4 in the General Art Rules.
Note: "When will my request be done?" posts in shops count as spam and are not allowed.
2. All topics in Shops & Kits must present your own LEGO-related artwork. Use brickshelf or other image hosting sites to upload your art images and link to them in topics here.
Topics that are NOT allowed here include posting someone else's art you found, topics that have nothing to do with art, request topics, teaser topics, contests, project-planning topics (for more about these, please see the topic types guide in the General Art rules) and several types of topics that instead belong in the other three artwork forums:
-General Art (sketches, computer art, edits, sculptures, etc.)
-Music & Movies (animations and other multimedia)
-Comics (comedic or storylined series of art panels)
Note: Since June 2011 all four Artwork forums are now open to LEGO artwork in general, not just Bionicle artwork. So Hero Factory, Atlantis, City, whatever, it all goes in one of these four forum divisions.
Also note: Do not 'steal' others' kit parts -- you may only use others' kits in your own works if they have given you permission, or if they have given blanket permission to all. In addition, if they require credit to be given when their work is used, be sure to do so (in fact unless they specifically say it's freeware, you should assume you must cite credit). And by the same token, kit creators should be sure to specify their preferences on these issues.
3. New shops and help topics may be made ONLY with permission from staff of this forum and you must include a note in your topic who approved it.
For more about how to seek approval for a new shop, please see the Shop Approval Policy below.
To get approval for an artwork help topic, PM me or another staff member of this forum. I'd prefer your first PM just sum up what you want to talk about and how you plan to arrange it. Then if the staff member approves of the basic idea, write a draft and then PM that for final approval or for corrections for a final draft, etc. This assures the best result for when it is posted.
4. Kit and spritesheet topics may be posted freely; no need for permission.
5. No topic revival past 30 (thirty) days since the latest post for help topics, kits, and spritesheet topics.
Note: However, there are three exceptions that may be revived:
---Active shops (in which the owner has kept up with requests but there haven't been any requests for 30 days) may be revived.
---Personal artwork Collection topics mostly linking to kits and sprites may be posted here and revived, as explained in rules 6-8 in the General Art rules.
---Approved kit projects -- Large kit projects tend to be more efficient as one topic containing all the included kit sheets, rather than multiple artwork topics linked in a collection topic. You may request special permission from staff for large kit projects to be revivable and all the images linked right from one topic. You must mention who gave approval for it to be revivable in the topic.
I may also officialize some help topics, in which case they could be revived. For the moment, I'll just link to the old official topics list, where you may find still-relevant guides to art-making of various kinds. If any of those topic starters wish to remake those official topics here, please PM me.
6. Shops which do not keep up with requests within 30 days are deemed inactive and should be closed.
Note: A shop owner who becomes unable to continue their work should ask the staff to close the topic. Temporary closures if you need a break and/or time to complete current requestsare acceptable too; once you become able to continue your work, ask the staff to reopen the topic.
7. No double-posting; if you forgot to add something, edit your post instead or wait until someone else has posted first.
Note: Topic starters of their own personal artwork collection topics and approved kit project topics may, however, double post to announce new artwork and other updates.
8. You must include the appropriate label for what type of topic it is, preferably in the title, or at least in the topic description. These labels are "Shop", "Help Topic", "Kit", "Sprite", "Collection", or "Approved Kit Project." That way members easily know which of the above rules apply to the topic.
9. Do not post your topic more than once. If you get a Mail error, or "Page cannot be displayed" when posting a topic, do NOT click "Back." Close the window, and bring BZP up in a new one, so that you can get back to this forum, and check to see if your topic really did go through. Most times it has.
10. All images posted on BZPower must be 500 kilobytes (kB) in size or smaller. As explained here, images that are large in dimensions will be automatically resized by the forum software and are not problems, but images large in filesize are problematic. Please check the filesizes before you directly display it. If you don't have time, or would like to avoid the issue altogether, link to the image instead of displaying it.
Note: Artwork topics are most "user-friendly" when at least a thumbnail of your artwork is directly displayed, so people don't have to click twice to see your art. You can easily make the thumbnail image work as a link to the larger version if clicked as well, by putting the image tags for the thumbnail in place of the hyperlink text for the link to the larger file, like this:
[url=URLFORBIG][img]URLFORTHUMBNAIL[/img][/url]
Also note: Owners and workers in banner and avatar shops must be aware of BZPower's guidelines for signatures and avatars. I'd specifically recommend keeping most banners smaller than the maximum so those who choose to use them have room for other text, and to make avatars exactly 64 x 64 pixels in size so there's no loss of quality due to auto-resizing. Specific shops may also have their own internal policies of quality control and suchnot.
11. No inappropriate/offensive artwork or posts. Excessive violence, sexual content, and toilet humor are examples of things that aren't allowed.
Note: All BZPower and General Art rules that apply to language use in posts also apply to text in pictures.
Also note: Do NOT quote objectionable material. This applies across BZPower but especially to offensive images.
12. If you have any questions or concerns about these rules, please PM me and I'll try to answer in a timely fashion.
Shop Approval Policy
In order to request a shop (as owner), send a PM to me, once you have studied the following rules, using the form below.
Rules for Owners
1. Remaking pre-Archiving shops -- if you have never had a shop, please skip this rule. To owners of recent shops prior to the archiving of all old topics: all I really require is that you check in with your workers to make sure they're still willing to help, then send me a PM stating first you had an old shop, then including the form, and linking to the old shop as your example work.
2. If a request can't be fulfilled by your shop, say so quickly.
3. Post a weekly (or so) list of all requests completed since the last list, and the status of all unfinished requests.
4. If your shop is overwhelmed with requests or slow work, please request temporary closure. (Sunday to Thursday, best way to get quick closure/reopening is to PM me. I'm busy on Friday and Saturday.)
5. Ensure your shop's work fits BZPower's rules.
6. Hire and fire workers as you deem fit.
Note: When requesting a shop, it's best to have some volunteers already lined up. This is not required; it's just easier for me to know your shop is worthy of being approved. Nor do all owners necessarily need other workers.
7. You shouldn't normally need to pick which worker will fulfill what request. I recommend usually letting the first worker to volunteer for a request take it. But you have final say on who does what, and it's best to include your policy on this in your startpost.
8. You may devise your own request forms.
9. This forum is for LEGO-related shops only, though you may do some work that is not specifically LEGO. Clearly non-LEGO work belongs in COT shops.
10. Include example work in your startpost so members know what sort of thing to request. (This should start out as the same examples in your shop request but you may also add later work.)
11. Be familiar with the rules for workers below.
Rules for Workers
1. Know the rules!
2. If a request is unclear, please ask for clarification, especially if they haven't said whether it's a banner.
3. Stay vocal about your ability to fulfill requests and how soon; if a request has gone unclaimed, but you can't do it, or can't do it quickly, post to say that, so others know it's time to step up. (This goes for owners too.)
4. If you complete a request, but the requester says it isn't to their satisfaction, please accomodate them, within reason.
5. Please do NOT fade away. If you must resign, or will only be temporarily busy, keep the shop owner informed.
Shop Approval Submission Form
Anyone who wants to start a LEGO-related artwork shop (so you would be the owner) must send me a PM using this form:
Shop name:
Workers' names:
Description: [short definition of what you do and what you use]
Example work: [a few artworks of yours that establish the style and suchnot of what you intend to do, preferably topics so I can see if there's a customer base]
Other work: [please include your brickshelf link and any other links that I could also browse to get a good idea of your work in general.]
NOTE: The most important example work you should focus on is NOT the "best of your best" -- what I want to see is your honestly typical work. (For example, were I to show the best of my powerpoint avatars, I would go for the ones with the best and most difficult lighting effects, but that is NOT what the focus of a shop request like this should be; instead I would focus on the ones with the minimal lighting effects but quality shapes and some lighting, since that's more typical of what I can make quickly.)
If you have worked in someone else's shop before, be sure to mention that and also mention which examples you're including were requests. If you haven't worked in a shop before, you won't be rejected just for that alone, but it may be a factor.
The primary factors are initiative, skill, and work ethic.
Edited by Black Six, Sep 12 2011 - 07:50 PM.
