Information about Media Assets?

So, I've been really impressed by the sheer amount of extra images found in Media Assets.
But it makes me question a couple things:

1. Why is it so hidden?
I've tried to look for additional information on it, yet the only forum/wiki posts referencing it (that I've managed to find so far) mention it only in passing (like "Oh yeah, if you need a good reference image for a wiki page, then you can take a peek in this enormous secret stash we have over here."). Getting to it through the URL lists it as existing under the "More »" tab and yet it's not directly linked to anywhere on the Site Map page itself.

2. I can imagine that it exists as a means of quickly archiving large quantities of images at the cost of tag accuracy (and how that may be the reason for hiding it).
But does it have any other goal?
Sure, the art there is archived and preserved, but it feels a little redundant when it's obscured from the average visitor and you can hardly navigate it anyway, due to the Tag Search really seeming to struggle to find posts in general (even when some of them are being listed as supposedly having 1K+ results), not to mention the 2-second search-timeout.
Is it a garbage bin?
Or is it supposed to be a resource where volunteers can look for art that they can manually add tags to so that it can be uploaded fully?
Or is it more of a domain meant for higher-leveled users?

3. How does one even upload exclusively to *it*?
The only means of uploading that I've seen thus far, seem to be the standard uploads with manual tagging.

4. Does it have additional/fewer rules compared to regular uploads?

It would be nice to have a wiki page that focuses on what it's all about, since so far I haven't been able to find one.

point 3: simply upload as you would usually, but back out without clicking the post button so you don't accidentally publish. it can then be found on the media assets page. if you're having trouble finding your asset, try searching for the exact width and height of the image, and with some luck hopefully you'll be able to find it.

as for why there's so much art in there that isn't properly posted, who knows, maybe they had second thoughts and backed out, or maybe they just wanted to archive things without contributing. some users might also have a backlog of things to upload which would get mixed into the assets. the page is probably hidden to discourage people sniping each other's uploads, which is also why you can't publish someone else's media assets.

Once you upload something, you can get to its media asset page by clicking the link directly below the image (the one with the file extension and resolution) as long as you haven’t posted it.

Regarding point 4, there aren’t any rules about quality as far as I can tell, but there are still some restrictions (topic #28589).

Huh.
I see, so it's basically an intermissionary stage for every upload, incomplete or otherwise?

Basically, yes.

Also, some members will intentionally upload images without intent to post them. For example, they might upload an image that wouldn’t be acceptable to post normally and embed it in a comment. This is often done with images parodying other images; the original photo/drawing will be referenced in the comment instead of being posted.

I personally upload media assets for reference in wiki pages, especially character appearances.

Ylimegirl said:

I personally upload media assets for reference in wiki pages, especially character appearances.

Man, knowing that could have save me from a couple post-deletions.

Worth noting that official arts and such should still be uploaded fully. Asset embeds should ideally be reserved for things that are just not allowed as posts, like photos, crops, edits, etc.

ANON_TOKYO said:

Worth noting that official arts and such should still be uploaded fully.

If this was 2 weeks ago then I'd agree and comply with that mindset if official art didn't have such a strangely low approval rating from my limited experience here.
I don't want to risk downgrading my upload limit for artwork that I'm uploading purely to serve as an example for a wiki page.

Splatoonsiast said:

If this was 2 weeks ago then I'd agree and comply with that mindset if official art didn't have such a strangely low approval rating from my limited experience here.
I don't want to risk downgrading my upload limit for artwork that I'm uploading purely to serve as an example for a wiki page.

Looking at your profile, well I have to say its kind of unfortunate but expected when uploading a copyright like Splatoon, it's going to appeal to less approvers. The point though is to avoid people spamming perfectly uppable images as assets, since that makes them difficult to find vs them being posts.

ANON_TOKYO said:

Looking at your profile, well I have to say its kind of unfortunate but expected when uploading a copyright like Splatoon, it's going to appeal to less approvers. The point though is to avoid people spamming perfectly uppable images as assets, since that makes them difficult to find vs them being posts.

I can see that. Unfortunate about the dilemma of approver-taste still being there, sadly.
I had a decent rhythm of uploading and tag-editing until I noticed the downgrade.
I slowed down my efforts afterwards, cause now there was a concern that this may not be the right booru for it.