Pre-Release Information

[GrnMarvl14]

Can we institute some policy against people adding information before it's official? Team changes before the comic the team membership changes in is released. Characters in a comic before the comic's released? Staff for a comic before it's released (because Marvel.com's staff listings for comics SUCK...BIG time)?

I ask this because it's annoying to have to constantly change information because it's added before any REAL details are revealed. Or when we have information that's not accurate because the events haven't actually happened yet (happened with the Avengers stuff before Siege was even released. I don't know HOW many times I had to change information on Avengers, New Avengers, and Secret Avengers because it was people assuming things that just weren't true, and could EASILY have waited for the first issues to actually be released).

I have no problem with the solicit info, and any details revealed about a comic before it's release that would be included in the notes section anyway. Event tags are another thing that aren't a big deal and can actually be quite helpful. But characters appearing in a comic can change from one comic to the next, even in a seemingly continuous storyline and having someone copy/paste from the previous issue is VERY annoying for people who actually take the time to ID characters in each specific issue. Staff, as I said, is almost never accurate on Marvel's website (assuming they even HAVE any staff listed for a specific issue).

Am I alone in being annoyed with dealing with this stuff? Constantly having to undo or change edits that didn't NEED to happen in the first place?

[edkaufman]

I completely agree. In that context, I was actually wondering about the spoiler warnings: What good is a spoiler warning over recent issues when all that info will have already been added to the individual characters' or teams' pages the very day a comic comes out? It ruined Second coming a little for me - not that I was really surprised that Cable died, but still. I realize if I want to be spoiler-free, I should just stay away from the site, but still. And yes, with the Avengers/Siege, it was even worse.

[GrnMarvl14]

I've definitely been wondering how receptive people would be to an information moratorium. Give people a chance to catch up before very recent, plot-related, info is added.

[edkaufman]

Thought about it again... it was probably a stupid idea. I mean, it's our job to chronicle stuff that happens in the marvel universe. And it's my own fault if I'm such a site-junkie that I can't keep away from the site for long enough to actually read the comic I've been waiting for before logging on...

But pre-release, I still completely agree - very often, the material is simply wrong, and even if it isn't, how can you verify, whether a character actually has joined a team, for example?

[GrnMarvl14]

And it's not uncommon for things to change before publication, rendering the information inaccurate or completely wrong.

[Robert Alvarez]

There should be a policy on entering data in the database. information entered is supposed to be current & accurate to the best of the submitters knowledge. I don't feel information should be entered prior to publication.

[Eetmi]

Are you talking about the character pages or the pages for the comics?

If it's the comics, the only thing I can think of would be to lock the pages until the day before they come out.

[GrnMarvl14]

I'm talking MOSTLY about character and team pages. The comic pages, to a much lesser extent since they usually only get actual pre-release info added to them (solicitation information, cover, etc.). But, again, this is largely spurred by the addition of Heroic Age information...pre-Heroic Age. When the New Avengers still included Bucky Cap, yet we had Thing on the team (who's actually yet to officially join the team, though he's been offered a place).