Policy Talk:Notability
Sarna News
Peder Smythe
Note that this discussion originated on the Peder Smythe article and has been moved here.
Is this article really notable? I cannot see it being expanded beyond its current size, so, in lieu of the fact that Category:People is growing quickly, do we want to keep this (and other, similar articles)? --Scaletail 15:35, 30 November 2007 (CST)
- Weak Keep: I envision BTW to be the end-all, be-all of everything that was every printed in CBT, and in this respect, I had been planning to 'lead the way' by creating at leats a stub entry for every name I found in at least one title. However, I am a lot less niave now (but no less wishful). Compared to many of the people in the People category, he is definitely non-notable. However does it hurt the wiki to have him on? For someone (possibly a CBT writer) who may some day search for a person who fits certain parameters (in this case: intelligence, Magistracy, 3067), the search would lead him here and maybe they'd expand the character accordingly.
- To be honest, I won't fight to keep him, but I don't see a reason to delete him. Notability within the scope of this wiki is different than that for Wikipedia. I'd not allow vanity articles about fans, but for everyone who's ever been associated with official products (fictional and real), I'd think this wiki would provide some value.
- In the last few days, I've really taken some lessons from Star Trek's Memory Alpha and Memory Beta wikis on how to handle in-character and real-world (i.e. background) information and I appreicate how they compile information on the smallest of characters. Since 'our' universe is arguably richer than Trek's, I'd like to see us reap the benefits of a similar system (that is, information at the pam of one's hand, whether you own OOP books or not). Too preachy? --Revanche (talk|contribs) 12:47, 6 December 2007 (CST)
- I'm not fighting to delete (note that I did not even put up a deletion tag), but I think we need to discuss and come to a consensus on exactly what we want BTW to be. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with creating a page for every character that gets a mention in a sourcebook, because then we would have thousands of one-line stubs like this with various officers from the Field Manual series. I understand your point that notability here is not what it is on WP (hell, I'm trying to decide if I'm going to contest deletion on "ComStar" over there), but I don't think that anything and everything BT is notable, so I believe we need to hammer out some guidelines on notability.
Perhaps Peder should stay, but if someone were (hypothetically) to create an article on one of the infantry regiment commanders from the 6th Syrtis Fusiliers that gets no mention elsewhere, do we keep it? If this person were then to do the same for every infantry regiment commander in Field Manual: Federated Suns, do we keep them all? Where does it stop? --Scaletail 14:27, 6 December 2007 (CST)- Your POV is just as valid, I have to say. You are absolutely right: we need to create a notability policy, after hashing out what we want. I'm a bit short of time right now, but might I suggest you create a (mostly) blank Policy:Notability page and then transfer this conversation to its talk page? We can advertise on the news section that the discussion is taking place, because, frankly, I think it is /the/ defining issue for this wiki and as many editors as we can get need to take part in the discussion. --Revanche (talk|contribs) 15:35, 6 December 2007 (CST)
- I'm not fighting to delete (note that I did not even put up a deletion tag), but I think we need to discuss and come to a consensus on exactly what we want BTW to be. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with creating a page for every character that gets a mention in a sourcebook, because then we would have thousands of one-line stubs like this with various officers from the Field Manual series. I understand your point that notability here is not what it is on WP (hell, I'm trying to decide if I'm going to contest deletion on "ComStar" over there), but I don't think that anything and everything BT is notable, so I believe we need to hammer out some guidelines on notability.
Notability Policy
The above discussion was one started by Scaletail and Revanche on the notability of a very minor character. The discussion was quickly realized to be one of BattleTech Wiki policy, which involves all editors. So, at the start, two viewpoints are being put forth. They are separated below for easy discussion on their individual merits. If any other editors want to suggest a third option, please start a new section below these first two. Please limit discussion of the suggested policies to within their segregated sections.
First POV: An Encyclopedia of notable information
- This POV suggests that there should be some criteria, however limited, for inclusion in BTW. The exact guidelines will obviously need to be determined, but nobody is served by thousands of one-line articles that can be traced only to passing references in sourcebooks that have not been fleshed out. Just because a mercenary unit, weapon, or person is mentioned does not mean that he/she/it/they deserve an article. Note that this does not preclude something that may have began as a passing reference, but has been fleshed out, from inclusion. Similarly, something that may someday be notable should not be included. This POV wishes to ensure that a BTW article provides actual information about the subject.
Second POV: Galactica Encyclopedia for BattleTech
- This POV suggests that anything established within canon (oh, good lord: another policy to be hammered out), no matter how small, is pertinent to this BattleTech depository. I hold that -at some point- Sarna will be the starting point for any research needed to find out where characters, 'Mechs, locations, writers were ever mentioned in anything published by FASA, FanPro, Catalyst or any other future trademark owners. By being the Wikipedia of BattleTech, at the least someone who wants to find out where something was mentioned can come across (again, at the least a stub article providing a reference to the originating book).
Policy fun
While both sides of this discussion have merit, to me it comes down to an equation of energy spent to number of hits. It seems to me that while tons of hours could be devoted to making an article (at least a stub) for each of these supremely minor characters, that time could be better served streamlining the current content. While to an extent i feel like i am over stepping my boundaries, certain articles about very important characters are lacking (not due to any lack of effort but for all intents and purposes lack of sources) i was attempting to look up Precentor Dieron / Primus Sharilar Mori to show something to a friend and when i got to the article it still contained all of the 'insert here' text. But thats enough from me, so in conclusion i guess i support the POV of relevancy over all inclusive (for the time being that is). Thanks MasterOfDisaster 22:48, 7 December 2007 (CST)