I've started this page for style and structure discussions, similarly to the Goals subpage. Percy Snoodle 12:30, 6 February 2006 (UTC)
(moved from main page Percy Snoodle 12:30, 6 February 2006 (UTC))
Which color should we use for stuff like the infobox, the userbox or the portal? Should we stick to #9966cc? At least for the portal this would look odd, I believe. -- Genesis 11:24, 23 January 2006 (UTC)
Looking at the portal as it currently stands, I don't think there is any real problem with it eh, and i'm not generally a fan of purple in general. If other people do want a color change please don't do brown, the association with fantasy would probably be detrimental (unless it was for a D&D specific sub section) Brehaut 08:04, 30 January 2006 (UTC)
(moved from main page Percy Snoodle 12:30, 6 February 2006 (UTC))
Suggestion: Articles referring to a certain fictional setting, game or even in general should start with a standardised line, along the line of :
This will make it clear that the articles are in a way disconnected from the whole of Wikipedia, and will give all articles a common identity. It will also make it clear for the start that the article deals with a fictional world, making disclaimers such as 'magic doesn't exist, ofcourse, but it does with the game setting' unnecessary. Note that most articles refering to druids, for example, will need to link to a specific game definition of druid, not to a general desciption. In a way, this means that these articles are a subset within Wikipedia, linked internally, but rarely externally. -- Ec5618 14:32, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
Further to this suggestion, Robbstrd suggested on my talk page that we use a standard intro, something along the lines of:
My feeling is that this kind of intro is useful only for subjects that appear in certain campaign settings, and in articles where we're going to specify different campaign setting implementations of the subject. I don't know that it's useful to mention campaign settings in articles on Orcus or Demogorgon, for example, since these characters are almost universal in D&D campaign settings. It might be preferable to say,
and address campaign settings as needed in the body of the article. -- Muchness 02:22, 1 February 2006 (UTC)
I would use "In the game title role-playing game. . . ." things that aren't unique, such as orcs, elves, paladins, brooches of shielding, etc. I could make an exception, however, if a unique being or item appeared in the core rules, such as Boccob or the Hand of Vecna in D&D. Robbstrd 21:59, 1 February 2006 (UTC)
According to the MoS, the title of the article should be the subject of the first line. It says nothing about the way in which that first line should be formatted.
The reason I advocate this wording, is that the articles referring to Dungeons & Dragons (for example) should make it clear from the start that they deal with a fictional concept. The first part of the sentence "Khorvaire is one of the larger continents of the world of Eberron" does not make it clear that this is in reference to a fictional continent, a fictional Eberron. By tweaking the line, this is clarified. "In the Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting of Eberron, Khorvaire is .."
Perhaps this should be discussed at the MoS. There have been (illfounded) discussions about removing fictional content from Wikipedia, because the distinction between fact and fiction is not immediately apparent. I propose wording that would address that issue.
Additionally, such standardised wording would bind the Dungeons & Dragons related content together, which isn't a bad thing. -- Ec5618 00:33, 7 February 2006 (UTC)
We've got one firm recommendation under structure (references) - I wonder what people would think to the following recommended layout:
Proposed guideline:
Page titles on Wikipedia should be singlular, and role-playing game-related articles are no exception.
When a page's title needs to be disambiguated from a page with the same name, it is common Wikipedia practice to put a topic in parentheses. For role-playing game articles, such titles should contain the phrase "(role-playing game)" (e.g. Champions (role-playing game)). In some cases, however, such articles will refer to more than one game. In those cases, the parenthetical should be pluralized (e.g. Alignment (role-playing games)). This follows the guidelines for "articles on groups of specific things, rather than a class of things" from Wikipedia:Naming conventions (plurals).
I propose that separate articles should exist for subjects that have the same name as, but are different from their counterparts in other games, genera, and "reality" (such as myth or legend). The title of the article should be followed, in parentheses, by the name of the game system. For example, there are already separate articles for Wizard and Wizard (Dungeons & Dragons), as well as for Orc (Dungeons & Dragons) & Orc (Warcraft). However, I'd advise against doing this for every single thing--there's no need, for example, for an article called Broadsword (Dungeons & Dragons) or Automobile (Car Wars). Robbstrd 21:11, 5 March 2006 (UTC)
I'd like to add the following to the style section, under 'history':
Percy Snoodle 10:34, 7 June 2006 (UTC)
Done. Percy Snoodle 15:06, 14 June 2006 (UTC)
I did this to Changeling: The Dreaming last night. What exactly constitutes a 'long list'? 10+ titles? Urbandale ( talk) 22:19, 18 June 2009 (UTC)
The list of artists seems to be appended to the bottom of the list of writers. I would like to work on adding articles about notable artists and it seems to me they should have a separate list. Also, concerning the definition of notable artist, I propose that any artist who is the cover artist for a published game system core book qualifies as notable. What do others think? Vampyrecat 05:03, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
I have another suggestion: The template for information boxes for individual game entries doesn't have a listing for the cover artist. I think it would be appropriate to add the name of the cover artist for games with their own entry, what do others think? Vampyrecat 05:50, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
I propose that we develop a template for Artists to help facilitate the creation of articles about RPG Artists. Vampyrecat ( talk) 17:29, 13 April 2010 (UTC)
I propose that we develop a template for RPG Conventions to facilitate the creation of articles about RPG Conventions. The Gencon article is a good article and could help serve as a guide for making the template. Vampyrecat ( talk) 17:29, 13 April 2010 (UTC)
I would like to suggest the following for different publications:
title is a genre [[tabletop role-playing game]], designed by (designer), with art by (artist), and published by (publisher) in year. Brief explanation what is notable about the game.
title is a genre [[tabletop role-playing game|tabletop role-playing adventure]], written by (writer), with art by (artist), and published by publisher in year. Brief explanation what is notable about the adventure.
title is a genre [[tabletop role-playing game|tabletop role-playing supplement]], written by (writer), with art by (artist), and published by publisher in year. Brief explanation what is notable about the supplement.
title is a genre [[tabletop role-playing game|tabletop role-playing]] [[Campaign (role-playing games)|campaign]], written by writer, with art by artist, and published by publisher in year. Brief explanation what is notable about the adventure.
I realise that there is often no clear line between a supplement and adventure, but I would suggest we adopt that a supplement that contains supplementary rules and background, may also contain adventures. So if the majority of a book about the land of x contains background rules for that land as well as 3 adventures, it be called a supplement. Please point me to a reference if this has already been defined on wikipedia.
I think the Style section on the main project page was too long, very old, and probably not really followed anyway. As such, I am trimming it and archiving the old version here, as seen below. BOZ ( talk) 01:12, 9 March 2021 (UTC)
Discussions on style and structure of role-playing game and RPG-related articles can be held on the Style subpage.
Articles should follow, as closely as is possible, the guidance at the Manual of Style.
For articles on role-playing games, we recommend the following layout:
Title is a genre [[role-playing game]], designed by designer and published by current publisher. Brief explanation what is notable about the game.
References should be added using < ref> tags throughout the body of the article, next to the facts that they are included to support. Where possible, they should use the available standard reference templates.
Books, modules, supplements, boxed sets, etc: | {{ cite book}} |
---|---|
Articles in periodicals, or works within an anthology: | {{ cite journal}} |
Online sources: | {{ cite web}} |
If an article uses several different pages within the same source as a reference for different parts of the article, it is recommended that the work be added to a bibliography section, and the various references use the {{ harvnb}} tag to refer to it there.
[[Category:Appropriate genre of role-playing games]] - or more than one if appropriate
Setting, System and History could come in any order, depending on what's most important for the game in question.
Important terms should be in bold, so it's easy to see what the paragraph you're reading is about.
See the " Statistics" section below for articles that are of a high enough standard to be used as good examples of their category.
I've started this page for style and structure discussions, similarly to the Goals subpage. Percy Snoodle 12:30, 6 February 2006 (UTC)
(moved from main page Percy Snoodle 12:30, 6 February 2006 (UTC))
Which color should we use for stuff like the infobox, the userbox or the portal? Should we stick to #9966cc? At least for the portal this would look odd, I believe. -- Genesis 11:24, 23 January 2006 (UTC)
Looking at the portal as it currently stands, I don't think there is any real problem with it eh, and i'm not generally a fan of purple in general. If other people do want a color change please don't do brown, the association with fantasy would probably be detrimental (unless it was for a D&D specific sub section) Brehaut 08:04, 30 January 2006 (UTC)
(moved from main page Percy Snoodle 12:30, 6 February 2006 (UTC))
Suggestion: Articles referring to a certain fictional setting, game or even in general should start with a standardised line, along the line of :
This will make it clear that the articles are in a way disconnected from the whole of Wikipedia, and will give all articles a common identity. It will also make it clear for the start that the article deals with a fictional world, making disclaimers such as 'magic doesn't exist, ofcourse, but it does with the game setting' unnecessary. Note that most articles refering to druids, for example, will need to link to a specific game definition of druid, not to a general desciption. In a way, this means that these articles are a subset within Wikipedia, linked internally, but rarely externally. -- Ec5618 14:32, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
Further to this suggestion, Robbstrd suggested on my talk page that we use a standard intro, something along the lines of:
My feeling is that this kind of intro is useful only for subjects that appear in certain campaign settings, and in articles where we're going to specify different campaign setting implementations of the subject. I don't know that it's useful to mention campaign settings in articles on Orcus or Demogorgon, for example, since these characters are almost universal in D&D campaign settings. It might be preferable to say,
and address campaign settings as needed in the body of the article. -- Muchness 02:22, 1 February 2006 (UTC)
I would use "In the game title role-playing game. . . ." things that aren't unique, such as orcs, elves, paladins, brooches of shielding, etc. I could make an exception, however, if a unique being or item appeared in the core rules, such as Boccob or the Hand of Vecna in D&D. Robbstrd 21:59, 1 February 2006 (UTC)
According to the MoS, the title of the article should be the subject of the first line. It says nothing about the way in which that first line should be formatted.
The reason I advocate this wording, is that the articles referring to Dungeons & Dragons (for example) should make it clear from the start that they deal with a fictional concept. The first part of the sentence "Khorvaire is one of the larger continents of the world of Eberron" does not make it clear that this is in reference to a fictional continent, a fictional Eberron. By tweaking the line, this is clarified. "In the Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting of Eberron, Khorvaire is .."
Perhaps this should be discussed at the MoS. There have been (illfounded) discussions about removing fictional content from Wikipedia, because the distinction between fact and fiction is not immediately apparent. I propose wording that would address that issue.
Additionally, such standardised wording would bind the Dungeons & Dragons related content together, which isn't a bad thing. -- Ec5618 00:33, 7 February 2006 (UTC)
We've got one firm recommendation under structure (references) - I wonder what people would think to the following recommended layout:
Proposed guideline:
Page titles on Wikipedia should be singlular, and role-playing game-related articles are no exception.
When a page's title needs to be disambiguated from a page with the same name, it is common Wikipedia practice to put a topic in parentheses. For role-playing game articles, such titles should contain the phrase "(role-playing game)" (e.g. Champions (role-playing game)). In some cases, however, such articles will refer to more than one game. In those cases, the parenthetical should be pluralized (e.g. Alignment (role-playing games)). This follows the guidelines for "articles on groups of specific things, rather than a class of things" from Wikipedia:Naming conventions (plurals).
I propose that separate articles should exist for subjects that have the same name as, but are different from their counterparts in other games, genera, and "reality" (such as myth or legend). The title of the article should be followed, in parentheses, by the name of the game system. For example, there are already separate articles for Wizard and Wizard (Dungeons & Dragons), as well as for Orc (Dungeons & Dragons) & Orc (Warcraft). However, I'd advise against doing this for every single thing--there's no need, for example, for an article called Broadsword (Dungeons & Dragons) or Automobile (Car Wars). Robbstrd 21:11, 5 March 2006 (UTC)
I'd like to add the following to the style section, under 'history':
Percy Snoodle 10:34, 7 June 2006 (UTC)
Done. Percy Snoodle 15:06, 14 June 2006 (UTC)
I did this to Changeling: The Dreaming last night. What exactly constitutes a 'long list'? 10+ titles? Urbandale ( talk) 22:19, 18 June 2009 (UTC)
The list of artists seems to be appended to the bottom of the list of writers. I would like to work on adding articles about notable artists and it seems to me they should have a separate list. Also, concerning the definition of notable artist, I propose that any artist who is the cover artist for a published game system core book qualifies as notable. What do others think? Vampyrecat 05:03, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
I have another suggestion: The template for information boxes for individual game entries doesn't have a listing for the cover artist. I think it would be appropriate to add the name of the cover artist for games with their own entry, what do others think? Vampyrecat 05:50, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
I propose that we develop a template for Artists to help facilitate the creation of articles about RPG Artists. Vampyrecat ( talk) 17:29, 13 April 2010 (UTC)
I propose that we develop a template for RPG Conventions to facilitate the creation of articles about RPG Conventions. The Gencon article is a good article and could help serve as a guide for making the template. Vampyrecat ( talk) 17:29, 13 April 2010 (UTC)
I would like to suggest the following for different publications:
title is a genre [[tabletop role-playing game]], designed by (designer), with art by (artist), and published by (publisher) in year. Brief explanation what is notable about the game.
title is a genre [[tabletop role-playing game|tabletop role-playing adventure]], written by (writer), with art by (artist), and published by publisher in year. Brief explanation what is notable about the adventure.
title is a genre [[tabletop role-playing game|tabletop role-playing supplement]], written by (writer), with art by (artist), and published by publisher in year. Brief explanation what is notable about the supplement.
title is a genre [[tabletop role-playing game|tabletop role-playing]] [[Campaign (role-playing games)|campaign]], written by writer, with art by artist, and published by publisher in year. Brief explanation what is notable about the adventure.
I realise that there is often no clear line between a supplement and adventure, but I would suggest we adopt that a supplement that contains supplementary rules and background, may also contain adventures. So if the majority of a book about the land of x contains background rules for that land as well as 3 adventures, it be called a supplement. Please point me to a reference if this has already been defined on wikipedia.
I think the Style section on the main project page was too long, very old, and probably not really followed anyway. As such, I am trimming it and archiving the old version here, as seen below. BOZ ( talk) 01:12, 9 March 2021 (UTC)
Discussions on style and structure of role-playing game and RPG-related articles can be held on the Style subpage.
Articles should follow, as closely as is possible, the guidance at the Manual of Style.
For articles on role-playing games, we recommend the following layout:
Title is a genre [[role-playing game]], designed by designer and published by current publisher. Brief explanation what is notable about the game.
References should be added using < ref> tags throughout the body of the article, next to the facts that they are included to support. Where possible, they should use the available standard reference templates.
Books, modules, supplements, boxed sets, etc: | {{ cite book}} |
---|---|
Articles in periodicals, or works within an anthology: | {{ cite journal}} |
Online sources: | {{ cite web}} |
If an article uses several different pages within the same source as a reference for different parts of the article, it is recommended that the work be added to a bibliography section, and the various references use the {{ harvnb}} tag to refer to it there.
[[Category:Appropriate genre of role-playing games]] - or more than one if appropriate
Setting, System and History could come in any order, depending on what's most important for the game in question.
Important terms should be in bold, so it's easy to see what the paragraph you're reading is about.
See the " Statistics" section below for articles that are of a high enough standard to be used as good examples of their category.