WikiProject Video Games
Hello! This week I interviewed Czar, Masem, Jaguar and Salvidrim of WikiProject Video Games (WPVG). The members of WikiProject Video Games revealed to the Signpost some interesting facts and information about the members of WPVG and the project itself.
Many of the members are passionate about gaming. For example, Salvidrim has been gaming for 22 years. He sought out a project that fits his interests: “Joining WPVG is practically the first thing I did when I started editing Wikipedia!” Jaguar began by writing articles on upcoming video games and learned from his mistakes, “by creating a dozen articles on upcoming video games.” Masem was drawn to Wikipedia’s “academic treatment of video games”. Czar became involved by watching the talk page of WPVG. Czar received feedback from members of the project for their video game-related articles and continued working on WPVG.
I asked if these editors preferred working on articles about the video games they liked playing themselves. Czar works on anything that needs help, and has even written several "good articles" on games they haven’t played, or articles about people they don’t know. Jaguar and Masem, however, enjoy writing about video games from the video game golden era of the 1990s. Masem prefers indie games over commercial titles, and Salvidrim enjoys writing about “obscure video games”.
Curious about their contributions to other WMF sites, I asked these members about whether they were able to add content to Wikimedia Commons. Salvidrim has been able to “negotiate the free-licensing for a game ... on the official subreddit for the game with the dev himself.” Jaguar has also sought permission from developers, but has often found free licensing difficult to obtain, aside from screenshots. Masem adds that indie developers are more likely to contribute media to Wikimedia than other video game creators. Czar has managed to upload hundreds of free-use files to Wikimedia, especially from smaller developers. Czar adds that becoming an admin on Commons has been useful to WPVG.
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Like all projects, WPVG has significant gaps in certain areas, especially games that are not published in English. Czar points out that many of the older Japanese games have not been covered properly based on paper sources, which still haven’t been digitized. However, it is even more difficult to find reliable sources on games from the early 2000s – both web and print coverage is missing, according to Czar. Masem echoes some of these concerns: stating that “we sometimes miss out on other areas of the world that produce non-English titles.” Salvidrim adds: “some German MMO might be hugely notable, but because of systemic bias, we are a lot more likely to have articles about less notable English-language games.” Jaguar points out an impressive fact: more than 13,000 articles under the WPVG umbrella are stub class.
Overall, WPVG is seen as a place with a good sense of community support and the ability to discuss differences in a constructive way. Salvidrim says that “while sometimes more disruptive editors do crop up, they’re often discouraged quickly.” Nevertheless, many of the articles are created by single editors with far less collaboration than projects like MILHIST, according to Salvidrim. Jaguar enjoys the sense of “common interest” that the project fosters, though they also tend to work alone. Masem says “We fall somewhere between collaborative and individual workers. We’ll help each other out and there are several articles that once a GA or FA nomination starts, many editors will come to help.” Czar points out that WPVG is a good place for editors to ask for help “without dismissing their concerns”. Czar is critical of how the AfD process for video games can become “inaccessible” through the use of excessive jargon or by focusing on niche topics. Discussing rules and best practices for the project is another area of collaboration for WPVG, according to Salvidrim.
The most important question concerns the most urgent needs facing WPVG. Czar points out that many wikignoming activities are needed, whether it be speaking up at AfD or reviewing articles. For Masem, it's that many articles, even those at the “top" level, still need improvement. Jaguar’s advice is to “do whatever [a new editor feels] like they would enjoy doing: writing quality content.” Salvidrim pointed us to the very long page of requested articles. It’s not important that an article is long, he said, just as long as it gets started at all.
The English Wikipedia's articles on video games are huge in number and cumulatively receive extraordinary numbers of visits by readers. This wikiproject has a lot on its hands!
WikiProject Video Games
Hello! This week I interviewed Czar, Masem, Jaguar and Salvidrim of WikiProject Video Games (WPVG). The members of WikiProject Video Games revealed to the Signpost some interesting facts and information about the members of WPVG and the project itself.
Many of the members are passionate about gaming. For example, Salvidrim has been gaming for 22 years. He sought out a project that fits his interests: “Joining WPVG is practically the first thing I did when I started editing Wikipedia!” Jaguar began by writing articles on upcoming video games and learned from his mistakes, “by creating a dozen articles on upcoming video games.” Masem was drawn to Wikipedia’s “academic treatment of video games”. Czar became involved by watching the talk page of WPVG. Czar received feedback from members of the project for their video game-related articles and continued working on WPVG.
I asked if these editors preferred working on articles about the video games they liked playing themselves. Czar works on anything that needs help, and has even written several "good articles" on games they haven’t played, or articles about people they don’t know. Jaguar and Masem, however, enjoy writing about video games from the video game golden era of the 1990s. Masem prefers indie games over commercial titles, and Salvidrim enjoys writing about “obscure video games”.
Curious about their contributions to other WMF sites, I asked these members about whether they were able to add content to Wikimedia Commons. Salvidrim has been able to “negotiate the free-licensing for a game ... on the official subreddit for the game with the dev himself.” Jaguar has also sought permission from developers, but has often found free licensing difficult to obtain, aside from screenshots. Masem adds that indie developers are more likely to contribute media to Wikimedia than other video game creators. Czar has managed to upload hundreds of free-use files to Wikimedia, especially from smaller developers. Czar adds that becoming an admin on Commons has been useful to WPVG.
Like all projects, WPVG has significant gaps in certain areas, especially games that are not published in English. Czar points out that many of the older Japanese games have not been covered properly based on paper sources, which still haven’t been digitized. However, it is even more difficult to find reliable sources on games from the early 2000s – both web and print coverage is missing, according to Czar. Masem echoes some of these concerns: stating that “we sometimes miss out on other areas of the world that produce non-English titles.” Salvidrim adds: “some German MMO might be hugely notable, but because of systemic bias, we are a lot more likely to have articles about less notable English-language games.” Jaguar points out an impressive fact: more than 13,000 articles under the WPVG umbrella are stub class.
Overall, WPVG is seen as a place with a good sense of community support and the ability to discuss differences in a constructive way. Salvidrim says that “while sometimes more disruptive editors do crop up, they’re often discouraged quickly.” Nevertheless, many of the articles are created by single editors with far less collaboration than projects like MILHIST, according to Salvidrim. Jaguar enjoys the sense of “common interest” that the project fosters, though they also tend to work alone. Masem says “We fall somewhere between collaborative and individual workers. We’ll help each other out and there are several articles that once a GA or FA nomination starts, many editors will come to help.” Czar points out that WPVG is a good place for editors to ask for help “without dismissing their concerns”. Czar is critical of how the AfD process for video games can become “inaccessible” through the use of excessive jargon or by focusing on niche topics. Discussing rules and best practices for the project is another area of collaboration for WPVG, according to Salvidrim.
The most important question concerns the most urgent needs facing WPVG. Czar points out that many wikignoming activities are needed, whether it be speaking up at AfD or reviewing articles. For Masem, it's that many articles, even those at the “top" level, still need improvement. Jaguar’s advice is to “do whatever [a new editor feels] like they would enjoy doing: writing quality content.” Salvidrim pointed us to the very long page of requested articles. It’s not important that an article is long, he said, just as long as it gets started at all.
The English Wikipedia's articles on video games are huge in number and cumulatively receive extraordinary numbers of visits by readers. This wikiproject has a lot on its hands!
Discuss this story
Hmph. Should've expected my answers to the interview wouldn't be here. Guess they were too boring to add. GamerPro64 20:43, 5 June 2016 (UTC)
- Maybe late? AGF.
Montanabw
(talk) 01:36, 6 June 2016 (UTC)
- Nah. I emailed it to her and she said my answers were very good. So I guess it didn't flow well with the other answers.
GamerPro64 02:01, 6 June 2016 (UTC)
- No, that's my bad,
GamerPro64. I knew I was screwing something up--and I had a personal thing going on at the same time I was finishing things up. I'm very sorry. Maybe I can do a follow up since I have another person who did respond late. Let me run that by the SignPost. :)
Megalibrarygirl (
talk) 17:11, 7 June 2016 (UTC)
- Thanks for letting me know. Whatever works out is fine by me. GamerPro64 22:01, 7 June 2016 (UTC)
- No, that's my bad,
GamerPro64. I knew I was screwing something up--and I had a personal thing going on at the same time I was finishing things up. I'm very sorry. Maybe I can do a follow up since I have another person who did respond late. Let me run that by the SignPost. :)
Megalibrarygirl (
talk) 17:11, 7 June 2016 (UTC)
- Nah. I emailed it to her and she said my answers were very good. So I guess it didn't flow well with the other answers.
GamerPro64 02:01, 6 June 2016 (UTC)
- Yes, at
Video Games assessment page I see there are over 30,000 articles. That is impressive. Wondering what percentage of games that might be? Cheers! —
JoeHebda • (
talk) 04:05, 6 June 2016 (UTC)
- That's a silly thing to ask: that's a bit like asking how many drawings are out there. Just going to one of those free flash game websites will show that there are infinitely many games that don't get the kind of coverage needed to meet WP:GNG. Friends of mine keep trying to create games without really making anything worth playing ^_^; Unless if you're asking what percentage of the articles are about specific video games. That could be a pretty interesting question. ~ Mable ( chat) 08:39, 6 June 2016 (UTC)
- I'll echo the call for more articles on non-English video game topics. There are large gaps in our coverage of Chinese, Russian, and Brazilian Portuguese video gaming. If there are any editors who have knowledge of RSes in these topic areas, we'd love to hear some input at
WT:VG/RS! -
Thibbs (
talk) 17:33, 6 June 2016 (UTC)
- We could always use more speakers of Japanese too! soetermans. ↑↑↓↓←→←→ B A TALK 12:38, 7 June 2016 (UTC)
Thanks @ Megalibrarygirl: for a well-researched, well-written article. I have added it to the 2008 and 2009 Signpost articles about the same WikiProject at Category:WikiProjects featured in The Signpost. Ottawahitech ( talk) 23:05, 6 June 2016 (UTC)
- Interesting read. I feel the same way about WP:VG. A lot of collaboriation and feedback, but also working solo. @ Czar: I feel the exact same way about AfD! :D soetermans. ↑↑↓↓←→←→ B A TALK 12:38, 7 June 2016 (UTC)
Discuss this story
Hmph. Should've expected my answers to the interview wouldn't be here. Guess they were too boring to add. GamerPro64 20:43, 5 June 2016 (UTC) reply
Thanks @ Megalibrarygirl: for a well-researched, well-written article. I have added it to the 2008 and 2009 Signpost articles about the same WikiProject at Category:WikiProjects featured in The Signpost. Ottawahitech ( talk) 23:05, 6 June 2016 (UTC) reply