User blog comment:LostInRiverview/New Page Cover feature/@comment-1975828-20130404205925/@comment-1519608-20130404211135

I agree with what you're saying, to a point. Certainly the main purpose of our articles is to present information, and the creation of a page cover doesn't necessarily facilitate that.

It's important to keep in mind the manner in which this template is intended to be used - on major articles, articles about big-time game features, about the expansions/games. A random article about any old thing wouldn't warrant getting this sort of treatment. Why? Because the template helps highlight the core content of a particular feature/neighborhood/game/etc. Having the template on big pages, therefore, is like a step above the little thumbnails we use presently, it helps to highlight that this article is an important article, is one describing something that really impacts the game.

A secondary benefit of this template is to avoid the perception that our articles are all just walls of text and infoboxes. Sure we have a few pictures thrown in here-and-there, but many of our key articles have a lot of information on them, and it stands to benefit from having the page begin with something nice to look at, rather than a couple intro paragraphs right off the bat. The idea is to gradually expose the reader to the article, first with a picture, than with the lead section that gives a summary of the article, then the infoboxes that give at-your-fingertips key details.

So to boil it all down, this template is about more that just looking good. On the articles this is to be used on, the appearance can help to present the entire article on a positive note to the readers.