Thread: Rating Sprites.

Approved by KeldoraDragon and Shiay.

I've been at the member at this forums for a little while, I've met some great spriters and made some great friends. People may know me under other names from different forums - basically I stroll between different forums, checking out the art galleries, and moving on if they aren't what I see as a good standard. Call me a cyber gypsy, I guess.

Many of the sprites I've seen here have been of very high standards. There are some other scratch spriters, a species that have become particularly rare as of late. The shops are bursting with activity and requests, and the contests are frequent and usually well run. However there's one thing this art gallery leaves me disappointed with, and thats the standard of critiques.

People come to the Spriter's Sanctuary to get their sprites rated, simple enough. Every spriter wants to know a few things:

- What the rater likes.
- What the rater dislikes.
- What could be improved.
- How it could be improved.

Tell me I'm stating the obvious - however a lot of the posts in my sprite thread, and many others, contain none of these points. These details are crucial in many ways, it tells the artist what their strengths and weaknesses are, and how to make their art even better. Every spriter wants to improve, it's a fact of life that people want to get better at things. So for the sake of the spriters, please, tell them what they need to hear.

Then there's the matter of beginner spriters. If you go into a sprite thread made by a beginner, and tell them that their sprites are 'awesome' or 'incredible for a newbie', then you may as well not post at all. The first point being, that you're probably lying, and secondly, you're not telling them how to get better. We were all beginners once, we all needed a little guidance, do your bit to guide them, rather than falsely congratulating them on their flawed sprite. Tell them what's wrong, and what they should do next time. How about linking them to a spriting guide? Trust me, they'll really appreciate it. That's what critique is all about, being honest and giving guidance.

However, don't think this is just towards beginners, even the most experienced spriters want an honest, good quality review of their art.

Here is an example of how to give a good quality rate.

'Firstly I'd like to say that the color scheme you chose really suits the Pokemon you've recolored. However, there are some flaws. The outline isn't totally recolored and this is crucial to give an authentic effect, it'll make your sprite look much more pleasant. Make sure you recolor even the darkest shade of the outline, because it'll make a huge difference. Keep it up, you're sure to improve!'

Even if you're rating someone's sprites which look totally flawless, still tell them which bits you like:

'Wow, I really like the way you've shaded the body, and the proportions are very good!'

And how not to:

'These are the best sprites ever you should totally work for Nintendo!!!'

Thanks for reading my rant. I'd just like to highlight the reason I've typed all of this, and it's that spriters aren't getting the critique and advice that they need, and it's all down to the members of the forum who don't rate properly. Hopefully you can learn from this guide and become a rater, if everyone learns then we can all improve our works together.

For everyone's sake, please.
~BuizelBoy.

I approve of this post. It can apply to any other type of art here as well. Perhaps we can get a critique thread stickied for art and sprites. I'll ask Kasumi about it.

I'm also in favour of the post. I'm sure we can talk to Kasumi about getting something stickied here soon.

Glad you agree, hopefully something can be sorted out.

I have noticed a recent increase in the quality of critique, well done everyone. :D

I just had to rate this a 5 for being well-written. Nice job, BuizelBoy!