User talk:Unclesporky

Welcome
Hi, welcome to the ! Probably nobody has yet looked at your edit to the Quests page, but someone will.

Please leave a message on my talk page if I can help with anything!

CompleCCity (talk) 12:35, October 31, 2019 (UTC)

Category links
Hi!

If you want to link to a category, use a colon right behind the opening brackets, such as innocent. However, innocent redirects to that category and can also be used. -- -- You talkin' to me? -- cCContributions -- 22:22, November 3, 2019 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the tip...yeah, I was just trying to link him as an innocent.  And thanks for the tip on Lendarn too, writing him in as explicitly not required for the quest...I saw it more as correcting a common misconception, and to make sure that future editors don't say "wait!  This other guy is down there too, you have to kill him too!"  But I defer to more experienced editors. Unclesporky (talk) 23:05, November 3, 2019 (UTC)


 * You're welcome. My "experience" made me understand your intention about Lendarn. ;) Let's keep it this way for a while – someday that common misconception may have become uncommon, and we can remove that from the pages. Or still keep it, who knows … -- UserCCCSig.png -- You talkin' to me? -- cCContributions -- 23:41, November 3, 2019 (UTC)

Person
Hi.

Another thing: if you're going to make more edits of the sort you've already done, I would welcome it if you tried to not use second person, like addressing the reader with "you". I know – many, many articles on the wiki do it this way, but using different wording is preferred (in general on most wikis). Try to choose "Gorion's Ward", "the party" or the "protagonist" instead.

I also know that this might be much effort, so I certainly don't insist on it – only an idea, a proposal. :) -- -- You talkin' to me? -- cCContributions -- 12:31, November 4, 2019 (UTC)

I was specifically referring to your edit on The Seven Suns. -- -- You talkin' to me? -- cCContributions -- 12:42, November 4, 2019 (UTC)


 * Apologies for that.  I think thus far I have been trying to maintain the same style as the existing page I'm editing somewhat, and as I haven't looked through all the quest pages vs. NPC pages vs. item pages I don't know what voice is most commonly used on each.  I assumed that "walkthrough voice" could use "you."


 * On this note I have a few random questions:
 * Do you have a preference for "Gorion's Ward", "the party", the "protagonist", or even the "player?" I think there is a place for "player" when you're expressing things in mechanical terms rather than fictional terms, such as "loot the container on the left" instead of "open the chest to the west."
 * Should every instance of Gold be replaced with ? What's the preferred link for XP?
 * Similarly, should I replace and  with  and  wherever I see them? Seems like a replacement in progress here, the smaller icons fit easier everywhere.
 * Should these icons only be used as a tag, or can they be referred to in text? Example:


 * The chest contains a Short Sword +1
 * The chest contains nothing
 * vs.
 * In the chest contains a Short Sword +1, but in  the chest is empty.


 * Is there a page with some sort of style guide that would answer these questions?
 * Unclesporky (talk) 13:24, November 4, 2019 (UTC)


 * No need for apologies! And, of course, if you're only adding a section and don't want to rewrite the whole page, you should keep the form. I haven't checked your edit in detail, but on a first impression it did look like a complete rewriting – that's why I mentioned this.
 * And specifically walkthrough sections – also on other wikis – often use second person; it's only something I'd like to change here (though I have written like this, myself).


 * A citation from the Dragon Age Wiki's Manual of Style, a valuable source as I think:
 * "Outside of direct quotation, the third person must be used in 'walkthrough' sections and the first person ('I') should only be used on talk pages. The second person is only acceptable when referring to the player outside of the game world, for example in controls and character creation pages.

The term 'the player' should only be used to refer to the individual playing the game, not a character."
 * So, even in your example, it still would be a party member and not "you" who's opening the container. ;)


 * "Gorion's Ward" or "the Ward", "(the) party" or a "party member", the "protagonist" – choose what matches best and try to not be too repititive; no specific preferences (I think).


 * Gold Piece, gold pieces, gold, GP, gp or – again, what matches best, I think. (But avoid Gold Pieces.)


 * Oh – that one. I plan to move Experience Tables to "Experience" one day. Until then, as above; use e.g. XP where it shall be brief and experience when being descriptive.


 * And another 'favorite' topic – the icons (and similar) …
 * No, no style guide, unfortunately.
 * I have to admit that my intention of making their usage more clear by naming them either "infobox" or "article" is misleading. In fact, those that are named "infobox" should be used when placed as a leading icon, even outside infoboxes, while the "article" ones fit better when used as superscript at the end of a sentence.
 * As I just notice, I've either done something wrong with (at least some of) the "article" icons or the whole concept isn't working as intended. Seems, like "infobox" matches better in any place.
 * None of them never should be used in floating text as in your last example. Though this is also done very often, currently – and is the cause for multiple issues, besides just looking bad.
 * As for your examples: again, why mention something that is not? How exactly such things can be listed, depends on where you want to note this information. Inside a list of notable loot, e.g.:
 * Pearl Necklace
 * Ninjatō +1
 * Within a paragraph, e.g.:
 * Further down the corridor, there's a locked chest. It contains a Ninjatō +1.
 * Further down the corridor, there's a locked chest. It contains a Ninjatō +1.


 * However, in this case, for clarity I would prefer:
 * "Further down the corridor, there's a locked chest. In the Enhanced Edition, it contains a Ninjatō +1."


 * For the other icons you're mentioning – yes, it is indeed some replacement process, but not exactly in the way you think to understand it: the four templates,, and  shall replace  and, due to the width of the latter two.
 * The smaller ones should be used inside infoboxes or as superscript, the larger ones at the start of a list item, for example. (And here, it does work.)
 * Use these if you're covering information that's different between editions in general and applies to more than one game. If you want to distinguish between facts from one (perhaps two) specific game(s), the dedicated icon(s) should be used.


 * Still questions? ;) -- UserCCCSig.png -- You talkin' to me? -- cCContributions -- 15:28, November 4, 2019 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the response, I'll try to keep these things in mind.


 * As far as "why mention something that is not", my thinking on that is that I'm left wondering whether (for example) a chest in original BG1 contains nothing, or whether the editor doesn't have access to the original BG1 and just made an assumption that content was exclusive to EE. I suppose it makes sense to assume that anything without a tag should apply to every release of the game, though.


 * Unclesporky (talk) 15:47, November 4, 2019 (UTC)


 * And this latest edit of yours is a perfect example for the above mentioned issues: take a look at the "Within a paragraph, e.g." section. :) -- UserCCCSig.png -- You talkin' to me? -- cCContributions -- 16:12, November 4, 2019 (UTC)

Screenshots
Hi.

If I may ask you a favor? Please, turn off hints when making screenshots. An infobox image that holds the name above the character's head is not a good one. ;)

Preferred (by me) format: zoomed 0%, no outlines, 300 × 185 px. -- -- You talkin' to me? -- cCContributions -- 00:02, November 13, 2019 (UTC)


 * I agree, the nametag was a mistake but it's the screenshot I have right now. Unfortunately also it's from the Nintendo Switch, which you can't get raw shots from, it has to be posted through Twitter which introduces compression. But I was at that part of the game and thought it would be better than no screenshot. Someone will have to play through (or quickly hack through) up to chapter 7 on PC (and preferably get all the other NPCs who only show up to direct the player only in that chapter).
 * Personally though I think it looks alright with the outlines, really helps them stand out against the background. Unclesporky (talk) 00:34, November 13, 2019 (UTC)
 * Personally though I think it looks alright with the outlines, really helps them stand out against the background. Unclesporky (talk) 00:34, November 13, 2019 (UTC)


 * Wasn't aware of that, so you're right then: better than none.
 * The outlines: I agree that some characters are really hard to see, especially for people with color issues. (Take a look at Chase, for example.) But when I first saw those, I thought "how ugly". And Ineth, me and others, we had discussions on various wikis about character/creature screenshots and how they should look like – the above "preference" is a result from that. (It's – adjusted to the game – even written into a guideline on one wiki.)
 * As for the missing ones from a future walkthrough: I still plan to do that with both editions, because many creatures had a change in design between them, and you wouldn't recognize e.g. a watcher if you're knowing only one of them. -- UserCCCSig.png -- You talkin' to me? -- cCContributions -- 09:11, November 13, 2019 (UTC)

Numbers presented without context


Islandking's love for "opcodes" … -- -- You talkin' to me? -- cCContributions -- 19:45, November 24, 2019 (UTC)


 * Yeah, I sort of understood what the numbers signified, but such effects are referred to in other parts of this wiki without these numbers (like Status Effects), and they would simply be confusing to a layman without an attached explanation of what they mean. I think we should defer to plain text when possible. Unclesporky (talk) 20:56, November 24, 2019 (UTC)

Erroneous bullet point
Ha ha!

Also Islandking's idea: this could inspire readers to add more points (I mean, not literally ;). -- -- You talkin' to me? -- cCContributions -- 19:48, November 24, 2019 (UTC)


 * Ha...I don't really agree that we should leave hanging bits of punctuation around looking like typos to try to inspire others. People will add more if they feel more needs to be said. :)  Unclesporky (talk) 20:57, November 24, 2019 (UTC)

Point(y)ness
No page about a real in-game creature is pointless. :) -- -- You talkin' to me? -- cCContributions -- 13:08, November 27, 2019 (UTC)

Thanks!
Hello.

Now it's time to thank you for that long needed article. :) -- -- You talkin' to me? -- cCContributions -- 16:07, November 27, 2019 (UTC)


 * No problem! We needed it! Unclesporky (talk) 17:07, November 27, 2019 (UTC)

Area names
Hi.

Just noticed your tents-renamings. Above all else, even that Lua file, should go in-game names. The "Diviner's Tent" is labeled "The Fortune Teller" on map, that's why I gave that as location (without a link, though). So, "The Fortune Teller's tent" would be the better name in my opinion. (And The Fortune Teller already redirects to Haspur.)

As of this – any opinion on uppercase/lowercase spelling of generic, non-noted building names, such as "XYZ's H/h-ome"? I mentioned this on the thread … -- -- You talkin' to me? -- cCContributions -- 19:04, November 29, 2019 (UTC)


 * Two reasons I decided to make that change...first on Haspur's page, it begins saying "The Diviner, also known as the Fortune Teller Haspur," so I took it that he was understood as the Diviner. Second reason, its in-game name via console menu is Diviner's Marketplace Tent: https://i.imgur.com/PUBg7Y8.png
 * My opinion on generic homes is to capitalize their spelling, because they are becoming a sort of proper noun on this wiki via their entry. They are non-generic by virtue of being looked up by that name. Unclesporky (talk) 19:12, November 29, 2019 (UTC)
 * My opinion on generic homes is to capitalize their spelling, because they are becoming a sort of proper noun on this wiki via their entry. They are non-generic by virtue of being looked up by that name. Unclesporky (talk) 19:12, November 29, 2019 (UTC)