24 replies to this topic

[Peltarius]

Hi guys.

I'm a long-time fan of the MechWarrior games, having been playing since I first tried the MechWarrior 2 demo years ago. That got me hooked for life and I've bought every game and expansion since then. I'm really looking forward to the upcoming MechWarrior Online, and hope to be playing it for many years to come.

The reason I'm posting is to let you all know about a new website I've set up, the MechWarrior Wiki. I know there's already a BattleTech Wiki (Sarna) but mine is dedicated solely to the video games, particularly this one. Anyone is welcome to contribute to the wiki, and you don't need to register an account if you don't want to.

If you want to create an article about your pilot or team (i.e. mercenary company) that's perfectly fine too, but you will have to log in for that as it needs to be in the userspace. If you don't know what that means, don't worry, I'll move it for you.

I hope you'll join me on the wiki, and help us build the definitive MechWarrior resource.

Edited by Peltarius, 26 November 2011 - 08:11 AM.

[Melissia]

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Main_Page

Already done... just sayin'... includes both mechwarrior and battletech comments (even mechcommander for that matter).

I don't see that much of a point of this, but hey, do whatever ya want right?

Edited by Melissia, 26 November 2011 - 07:08 AM.

[MaddMaxx]

Melissia, on 26 November 2011 - 07:07 AM, said:

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Main_Page

Already done... just sayin'... includes both mechwarrior and battletech comments (even mechcommander for that matter).

I don't see that much of a point of this, but hey, do whatever ya want right?

When are they going to add MWO? I didn't see a Link... Peltarius's seems to have one.

[Peltarius]

Melissia, on 26 November 2011 - 07:07 AM, said:

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Main_Page

Already done... just sayin'... includes both mechwarrior and battletech comments (even mechcommander for that matter).

I don't see that much of a point of this, but hey, do whatever ya want right?

I did mention that website in my original post, and include a link to it on my wiki. Whilst it is an excellent source of information on the BattleTech universe, the fact that is so exhaustive makes it unwieldly for those interested solely in the games. For example, there's no list (as far as I can tell) of all the 'mechs included in only MechWarrior 2. In addition, the fact it considers the games to be non-canon means looking up the name of a 'mech tells you nothing about it in relation to any of the games; what it can carry, where you can get it, it's price if bought, etc.

The MechWarrior Wiki is dedicated to the video games, so all the information included in it will be relevant to players of the games, making it a far more user-friendly resource for them.

[Melissia]

It IS a wiki, you can edit it in if you feel the need, just follow the rules, which are pretty lenient.

[Melissia]

Peltarius, on 26 November 2011 - 07:22 AM, said:

I did mention that website in my original post, and include a link to it on my wiki. Whilst it is an excellent source of information on the BattleTech universe, the fact that is so exhaustive makes it unwieldly for those interested solely in the games. For example, there's no list (as far as I can tell) of all the 'mechs included in only MechWarrior 2.

From their policies page:

"BTW does not seek to decide which official products contribute canon"

You can, if you wish, make a category called "Battlemechs in Mechwarrior 2", if you think they need to be further organized.

For further discussion on the canon of video games:

Quote

As long as a piece of fluff from an official source (FASA, FanPro, Catalyst, Infocom*, Activision*, Microprose*, Microsoft*) isn't directly contradicted, and makes sense, you can assume it to be part of the shared universe.

(*Fluff from these sources is 'canon' in the sense that the story that takes place in the game happened in canon in the same general broad strokes - Gideon recovered the Chalice from the Matabushi-backed Dark Wing; Jason found the Star League cache and rescued his father, then fought with the Hounds on Luthien; mercenaries helped Carver V become Liberty, FedCom forces on Port Arthur disrupted Smoke Jaguar operations as part of Operation Bird Dog, etc. - but the details are likely to be significantly different than the ones you experienced during your gameplay).

Edited by Melissia, 26 November 2011 - 07:28 AM.

[Peltarius]

It quite clearly states at the top of the articles for every game that they consider the information contained in said game to be apocrypha. However, even if a 'mech article did include information from the video games on it, the fact that data from the table top games is on the same page would only serve to confuse someone who's not interested at all in the latter. Indeed, a lot of players don't even realise there is a table top game. I'm not quite sure why you don't seem to understand this, but I shall not be conversing further with you on this point.

[Demi-Precentor Konev]

Despite your protests: I genuinely would rather see someone work on editing Sarna instead of starting a new Wiki. Sarna has a wonderful base of information to go off but many of the articles are poorly written (i.e. by people who aren't too good English) or are outdated. Every time someone tells me that Battletech =/= Mechwarrior I start to throw up a little.

Edited by lahyenne, 27 November 2011 - 08:29 AM.

[Seth]

Geez, the guy spends his time working something to help the community, and instead of a thanks he's told it's a waste of time. Pretty cold. I think it's a great idea to have a separate wiki for the games. Sarna is a great place to find information on BattleTech and the table top rules, but it's always been a place to find canon information. The admins of Sarna themselves moved all of the non-canon fan fiction and fan art to a separate wiki entirely. That aside, you simply can't have two wikis on the same site. It screws up both of them. For example, if you type in the searchbar "hunchback" to learn more about that beast, one of three things happen:
1. You're taken to the current Hunchback article which is already huge and has nothing to do with MWO.
2. You can create a disambiguation for everything that Battletech and MWO has in common which slows down both sites.
3. You add a tiny link at the top of the Hunchback articl that directs you to the MWO version. People would end up getting lost in the Sarna article and makes the mwowiki take a back seat to Sarna's.
None of those are efficient ways of finding information you want quickly. Hence a separate wiki.

EDIT: I like the logo.

Edited by Seth, 27 November 2011 - 10:08 AM.

[Zakatak]

Mechwarrior Living Legends (a mod with barely 100 members at a time) has its own Wiki, it's only fair we get one to!

I haven't explored it much, but I think you should consider including MW2 Mercs, MW2 GBL, MW4 Mercs, and maybe a single page for the Mechcommanders and Mechassaults.

[Peltarius]

Seth, on 27 November 2011 - 10:05 AM, said:

Geez, the guy spends his time working something to help the community, and instead of a thanks he's told it's a waste of time. Pretty cold. I think it's a great idea to have a separate wiki for the games. Sarna is a great place to find information on BattleTech and the table top rules, but it's always been a place to find canon information. The admins of Sarna themselves moved all of the non-canon fan fiction and fan art to a separate wiki entirely. That aside, you simply can't have two wikis on the same site. It screws up both of them. For example, if you type in the searchbar "hunchback" to learn more about that beast, one of three things happen:
1. You're taken to the current Hunchback article which is already huge and has nothing to do with MWO.
2. You can create a disambiguation for everything that Battletech and MWO has in common which slows down both sites.
3. You add a tiny link at the top of the Hunchback articl that directs you to the MWO version. People would end up getting lost in the Sarna article and makes the mwowiki take a back seat to Sarna's.
None of those are efficient ways of finding information you want quickly. Hence a separate wiki.

EDIT: I like the logo.

Thanks, and that's pretty much my reasoning entirely.

[Peltarius]

Zakatak, on 27 November 2011 - 10:14 AM, said:

Mechwarrior Living Legends (a mod with barely 100 members at a time) has its own Wiki, it's only fair we get one to!

I haven't explored it much, but I think you should consider including MW2 Mercs, MW2 GBL, MW4 Mercs, and maybe a single page for the Mechcommanders and Mechassaults.

There definately will be articles on each MechWarrior add-on/stand-alone expansion, it's just for simplicity's sake only the base games appear on the home page at the moment. That can change in the future, in fact right now I'm thinking of having a larger image for MWO, with smaller ones for each of the older games, I just need to come up with a way of making it looking pretty whilst still being logical. I'll get there though.

Edited by Peltarius, 27 November 2011 - 10:46 AM.

[Zakski]

Seth, on 27 November 2011 - 10:05 AM, said:

-- quotes --

Im more interested in how this will affect the nacent MechWarrior Online wiki that you have made

[Seth]

I don't think it will. The one I started is specific to MechWarrior Online. Peltarius' wiki covers all the MechWarrior games. There's a bit of overlap, but that's it.

[Zakski]

Either way a wiki dedicated to mechwarrior games is no bad thing

[Melissia]

Seth, on 27 November 2011 - 10:05 AM, said:

Geez, the guy spends his time working something to help the community, and instead of a thanks he's told it's a waste of time.

No, I said "I don't think it's necessary, but hey, do whatever you want."

[NoZaku4U]

Peltarius, on 26 November 2011 - 07:06 AM, said:

Hi guys.

I'm a long-time fan of the MechWarrior games, having been playing since I first tried the MechWarrior 2 demo years ago. That got me hooked for life and I've bought every game and expansion since then. I'm really looking forward to the upcoming MechWarrior Online, and hope to be playing it for many years to come.

The reason I'm posting is to let you all know about a new website I've set up, the MechWarrior Wiki. I know there's already a BattleTech Wiki (Sarna) but mine is dedicated solely to the video games, particularly this one. Anyone is welcome to contribute to the wiki, and you don't need to register an account if you don't want to.

If you want to create an article about your pilot or team (i.e. mercenary company) that's perfectly fine too, but you will have to log in for that as it needs to be in the userspace. If you don't know what that means, don't worry, I'll move it for you.

I hope you'll join me on the wiki, and help us build the definitive MechWarrior resource.

Looks good so far. The more Battletech-ish info out in the aether the better.
Thanks much for the time and effort.

[Garth Erlam]

Excellent work, my friend, excellent work!

I've always found it exhaustive to try to find anything related to specific games - specifically when comparing load-outs, etc, in various games. We all know MW4 has far different rules from MW3 - but you'll never know that from sarna.net (which isn't their fault, it's just not their focus.)

So long winded post ends with: Awesome work, looking forward to watching the site take off

PS. Seth, you could, if you found it worth your while, combine your MechWarrior Online wiki into his wiki, via the MechWarrior Online part.

Sorry that was so awkward, it's Sunday.

[Hellen Wheels]

Great Idea, and it looks awesome...
I would like to see also more history...I'm a fan of the game, but would like to know more about the history [ a COMPLETE history, as it were :-) ...
Some succint summaries of story lines and sub-plots would be great for a Wiki, too.
More Lore, that is...
lBowsl

[Seth]

Garth Erlam, on 27 November 2011 - 05:09 PM, said:

PS. Seth, you could, if you found it worth your while, combine your MechWarrior Online wiki into his wiki, via the MechWarrior Online part.

I gave that some thought, but I don't think the two can be melded for the same reason his wouldn't work on Sarna's. His wiki is about all of the games, mine is specific to MWO only. If you take the Hunchback page example again, his Hunchback article will probably cover all the versions of Hunchbacks that appeared in all the different games and include pictures of each different version. In my version, I expect to have a Hunchback page that is very specific to the Hunchback in MWO. (As specific as this page is to the Hunchback in MW4)

@Peltarius: Feel free to take whatever you need from my MW4 wiki for yours.