Difference between revisions of "Paragon Wiki Archive:Article Guidelines"

Revision as of 18:24, 28 February 2009

Subject Matter

The subject matter of The Paragon Wiki is NCsoft's games City of Heroes and City of Villains. Articles in the main namespace should be about City of Heroes/Villains and other topics that are of an official nature. Examples of appropriate subject matter include:

• Game mechanics (such as archetypes, powersets, enhancements, exemplaring)
• Game content (such as mission text, NPC descriptions)
• NCsoft staff information (such as information on developers, community representatives)
• Official events (those sponsored by NCsoft)
• The actual game as sold (such as the Good Versus Evil Edition)
• Official material relating to City of Heroes/Villains (such as the comic book)
• Player-created guides for the game (such as a guide about slash commands)

Player-specific content should not be published in the main namespace. Users may put such information on their userpage, or in some cases, on the Community Portal. Examples of subject matter that should not be in the main namespace include:

• Player characters
• Supergroups
• Player-created fiction
• Player-initiated events
• Player-developed software or utilities
• Player-developed websites

Note that this only covers subject matter, not linking. For example, it would be inappropriate to have an article discuss the various badging websites. However, it is quite permissible (and encouraged!) to link to such a badge site's article on a specific badge from that badge's page.

Note also that player-created guides are okay, assuming they're about the game (for example, The Incomplete and Unofficial Guide to /bind). This is because they are still intrinsically about the game itself, rather than about the player or the players' creations.

In-Game Text

Many articles copy text as it appears in game. This section applies to such text.

• When a character's name is mentioned in the text, it should be replaced with the {{Character}} template. ^[1]
• Misspellings and grammatical errors should be fixed. ^{[1] [2] [3]}
• Factual errors should be corrected or noted. ^[2]
• Story arc clues should not be added on a mission by mission basis. Most of these clues are reprinted in the souvenir. ^[4]
• Abbreviations should be expanded the first time they appear in an article. A person new to online games will not know what AoE, DoT, etc stand for. ^[2]
• Effects should not be capitalized. Instead of "Disorientation, Immobilization, or Hold effects," it should be "disorientation, immobilization, or hold effects." ^[2]

Headings

• Links should not be used in headings. ^[2]
• Every article should have an Overview section that provides a high-level summary of the article's topic. In some cases, the Overview may be the only section in an article.^[5]

Pronouns

• The use of first- and second person pronouns in articles should be avoided. Instead of "I think you get ambushed upon leaving this mission," use "An ambush may occur upon leaving this mission." ^[2]

Article Names

• Articles for slash commands should not include the leading slash and should be followed by "(Slash Command)". Example: The article name for the /team slash command is Team (Slash Command).

References

1. ↑ ^{a b} Discussion about hero names in mission entries on Main Discussion talk page and Paragon Forums.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Paragon Wiki Forums discussion: A few starting items
3. ↑ Paragon Wiki Forums discussion: Spelling, grammar, typographical, and continuity errors
4. ↑ Paragon Wiki Forums discussion: Mission sections
5. ↑ Paragon Wiki Forums discussion: Overview heading