Help talk:Manual of Style
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Uh..just saw Eva's post and I hope this is the right page to start a discussion on this. :) Personally, I feel that, according to what is already in place, personal character pages are and should be up to the player of said character. If they want to decorate it up, hey, it should be their choice. As long as the actual Canon and official game pages are in order, I don't see the big issue. But again, it's just my opinion. --Briar 00:49, 21 August 2008 (EDT)
Phillipe's thoughts...
I enjoy the fact that, as a player, I can modify my Wiki page as I see fit. We have a template for the character pages that gives all of them a uniform format so I feel that part of the post that Eva put on the BBoards has been done. People react negatively anytime you try to take away something from them. I understand that there are those that would like to have all the pages formatted and consistent, but in doing so you will be stripping the individuality of those pages and the characters they represent. To enforce such a change now would, literally, be an insult to those players that poured their heart, time, and effort into the Wiki.
Hours and energy wasted...
It's interesting that this has been brought up. Maximus had been calling me and asking me for months to come on this game, but I was playing WoW and other games so I didn't bother. Then he sent me a link to his Wiki page... I found myself reading through it and finding out about the theme and such, but it didn't grab me. When I hit the character pages, that's what did it. They were unique and enjoyable to read, because it showed that the player cared and were dedicated to the role play aspect of the game.
I copied the address and logged on making Phillipe... When I logged off I made an account on the Wiki.
In closing, I would suggest that the informational pages be standardized as they are pertaining to the facts and theme about the game. You would want it to be organized and easy to use. But I implore you, please leave the personal character pages in the domain of the players themselves.
When you start to take control of creativity, that is when it begins to die...
- Hey all! I had a little extra time, so I thought I'd throw in my two cents. :) I agree with Briar and Phillipe in that a player should be able to customize their character's page to their heart's desire-- to a degree. For example, although there are no official guidelines as to exactly how large a character page's in-body pictures can be, it's still considered good Wiki etiquette to keep them at a reasonable size (ie: not 1024x768 lol). In the same way, although there aren't any written rules against setting your page background color to hot pink and your text color to lime green (!!), that kind of customization can be really distracting for some people-- and to be honest, if a page isn't aesthetically pleasing or is hard for me to read, I usually skip over it anyways. So... I guess what I'm trying to say is, I definitely think people should be able to use pictures, header text variations, graphics, and tables to customize their page and set it apart from the others. But they should also use common sense when making their character pages, and remember that their page (however unique) is only a single part in a larger collection of pages, all of which don't have to look the exact same, but should at least be cohesive, and easy to read. That's what the Wiki's about after all, isn't it? Displaying relevant information in an organized, attractive, and cohesive format. :) PS: I think Cherubim's idea for various pre-made colored layouts is a great idea! Practical + Attractive = Awesome! --Valkyrie 12:41, 21 August 2008 (EDT)
- Here is the problem, as I see it, with wanting to impose rules on personal pages. It sounds like it boils down to...making such a judgment because one or a few simply don't like how a few have decorated their wiki page. And really, that's not really fair, is it? ;) People aren't going to agree all the time on what they like, what they think looks good. The personal character pages should be what the player of that character likes, thinks looks good for them, what expresses their unique style. Some may not like it, but that's ok. As long as people are following the guidelines with the picture sizes and adding the info box, I see this more as a situation of personal preference, and on an individual's personal character page, I just don't think it should matter that much. --Briar 14:22, 21 August 2008 (EDT)
I'm in favor of letting players make pages that look good to them and allowing for freedom of expression. I think the player pages are a lot of fun. I do consider other things though when looking at what's on them. I guess for me, content has always been the most important. This is a text based game, and when I look for text based games that catch my interest what I really want to see is the quality of the text itself. The only time that I see that being interfered with upon the player pages is when some of the colored backgrounds get a bit intense. If something is preventing me from reading the text and the text is what I am there for, then that's kind of a turnoff.
This is just my opinion as someone viewing the pages, not as a staffer. I think we want to keep in mind that the wiki serves multiple purposes. One is that it is fun for our players to add things to their pages and update them, etc. The other is that it serves as an informational resource for both our players and potential players, giving them theme content to work with and possible hooks, and helping the world become immersive. It's my personal opinion that standardizing the pages so that that was consistent would be a good thing. But the reason that Eva and I wanted to open it up for discussion is because we felt it was important to be supporting what the players wanted here too. Cherubim 16:50, 21 August 2008 (EDT)
To be entirely honest, I don't think for example, asking someone to alter their background color because it is garish and makes the wikipage difficult to read is "stifling their creativity". You ask me to consider the artistic freedoms and hard work and hours of energy of the players, I in turn, ask you to consider the hard work and hours of energy of those who built the wiki and work to maintain it.
I think that some moderate requests are not unreasonable. My main one - that backgrounds be in light, easy to read colors, and that background and text be reasonably contrasted. Briar's page is a good example of what works for me, actually. Others may or may not agree. Evangeline 17:37, 22 August 2008 (PDT)
