Should we have a Shmups Wiki?

Zach Keene · Post by **Zach Keene** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 3:26 am

A thought I just had... It seems to me that a wiki might allow for a more accurate frequently updated version of the Xenocide Files, and better still provide a more natural enviornment for Shmups Treatises than posting them to a message board.

Edit: poll added for fun, not because I'm in any position to do anything about the results.

Edit 2: Wikipedia's entry for "wiki"

the2bears · Post by **the2bears** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 4:37 am

A wiki would be especially good for grouping items around logical subjects - particular games and their strategies, consoles and the like.

Bill

uwfan · Post by **uwfan** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 10:08 am

yes, definitly!

its a really good idea.

Sundance · Post by **Sundance** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 11:44 am

Sounds interesting...i'm game...oops.

dbd · Post by **dbd** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 2:15 pm

You mean a wikipedia entry for shooter games?

That already exists, me and some other folks posted about it at the gamespy forums, I forget who else was on that thread.

There's two main entries, one is for 'fixed shooters' and the other is for 'scrolling shooters'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed_shooter

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrolling_shooter

vek · Post by **vek** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 2:24 pm

i think he means one actually on shmups.com. which sounds like a good idea to me!

dbd · Post by **dbd** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 3:08 pm

A wikipedia entry about a forum?

vek · Post by **vek** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 4:35 pm

no, as in this website would have it's own wiki, about shmups, presumably maintained and updated by us lot. it's hardly a difficult concept

sffan · Post by **sffan** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 5:29 pm

I've never heard of a "wiki."

Could someone define this please

Balzac · Post by **Balzac** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 6:34 pm

sffan wrote:I've never heard of a "wiki."

Could someone define this please

wiki wiki wa wiki wa wiki wa

WILD WILD WEST

Er, Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia that anyone can add to. Granted, if you add wrong/fradulent information, it will be deleted pretty quickly. Also, certain terms act as links to other wikipedia entries. Basically, its a huge encycopedia of sometimes obscure stuff.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 6:37 pm

I've still got my "Shmups Glossary" lying around, if that'd help...if not, I was gonna eventually put it up someplace else anyways.

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 6:38 pm

I think this is long overdue, considering that the French site, www.shmup.com has had a pretty comprehensive list of shmups for quite some time.

Zach Keene · Post by **Zach Keene** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 6:43 pm

vek wrote:no, as in this website would have it's own wiki, about shmups, presumably maintained and updated by us lot. it's hardly a difficult concept

That's what I meant, yes.

sffan wrote:I've never heard of a "wiki."

Could someone define this please

I posted a link to a definition in my first post.

incognoscente · Post by **incognoscente** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 9:58 pm

Twyst had a wiki for shooting games at http://www.ballisticzen.org. Unfortunately, his server was compromised, etc., so it's no longer up.

One disadvantage of wikis to me is the issue of policing. Maybe other wikis have better systems in place, but for BallisticZen, anyone could make an entry or an update. Not too many people contributed to BallisticZen (to my knowledge), but on a larger scale, I wouldn't be surprised to see small-scale fighting, deletion, or renamings going on. Not that I want this or expect it from most people, but these kinds of things can come up.

If Shmups for Dummies is ever going to be compiled, we could do a lot worse than a wiki. :)

Zach Keene · Post by **Zach Keene** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 11:03 pm

incognoscente wrote:One disadvantage of wikis to me is the issue of policing. Maybe other wikis have better systems in place, but for BallisticZen, anyone could make an entry or an update.

Well that's sort of the point, but you can do the same things with Wikis that you can with the forum (disallow guest posting, banninate asshat accounts, even IP ban if necessary, etc.)

UnscathedFlyingObject · Fri Feb 04, 2005 11:14 pm

I said no. Some people, even forum members, are liable to post junk, and I don't think anyone will take the time to sift the good stuff out. Now, if someone made a commitment to keep an eye on it, that would be a different story.

Blue Lander · Post by **Blue Lander** » Fri Feb 11, 2005 1:53 am

I've found the Wikipedia entries on shmups to be sort of lacking. Take the Gradius one, for instance. It gives a list of all Gradius games, but it leaves out Gradius Galaxies, the two Gradius games on the gameboy, Gradius 2 MSX and Nemesis '90. It also has an incomplete list of all the systems each game was ported to. And in the section labeled "Spinoffs", only Parodius is mentioned. Salamander ought to be in there, too.

These are minor nitpicks that the average gamer doesn't give a damn about, of course. That's why I think a shmups.com wiki is a good idea. We could come up with much more detailed and interesting articles that go deeper into the subject.

nullstar · Post by **nullstar** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 4:52 am

Blue Lander wrote:I've found the Wikipedia entries on shmups to be sort of lacking. Take the Gradius one, for instance. It gives a list of all Gradius games, but it leaves out Gradius Galaxies, the two Gradius games on the gameboy, Gradius 2 MSX and Nemesis '90. It also has an incomplete list of all the systems each game was ported to. And in the section labeled "Spinoffs", only Parodius is mentioned. Salamander ought to be in there, too.

These are minor nitpicks that the average gamer doesn't give a damn about, of course. That's why I think a shmups.com wiki is a good idea. We could come up with much more detailed and interesting articles that go deeper into the subject.

But why not just work to improve the wikipedia than start up our own? There is, after all, really nothing stopping us from modifying it, and it will reach a much wider audience that way, too.

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 5:21 am

Personally, I'd MUCH rather we had an A-Z listing and review of Shmups the way our French counterpart site, www.shmup.com , does. Seriously, they must have at least several times the amount of info that the Xenocide Files does, not that I'm ripping those.

oxtsu · Post by **oxtsu** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 8:43 am

Yes, something like this...

http://magus.main.jp/cgi/wiki/pukiwiki.php

...in English, would be great for the community.

SheSaidDutch · Post by **SheSaidDutch** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 12:42 pm

dave4shmups wrote:Personally, I'd MUCH rather we had an A-Z listing and review of Shmups the way our French counterpart site, www.shmup.com , does. Seriously, they must have at least several times the amount of info that the Xenocide Files does, not that I'm ripping those.

Yes we need this

, also a list of similar/alternative games linked in with the main review of a game.

Zhon · Post by **Zhon** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 4:15 pm

Yes. There's a lot of knowledge among our group that just isn't written down anywhere. Asking any individual to do most of it is a lot of work, but a wiki can allow it to be spread out. Currently I think some of the antipathy towards contributing is due the loss of stuff posted in the past, and the reluctance to do it over again.

If you're worried about intentionally obnoxious modifications to the wiki, instead of making it an open wiki, force registration before editing (or even link to forum registrations), and keep a time-based (rather than edit-based) backup which can be reverted to if someone decides to mess around. For unintentional misinformation, just correct it, and tell the person who posted it not to change it back.

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 4:03 pm

nullstar wrote:But why not just work to improve the wikipedia than start up our own? There is, after all, really nothing stopping us from modifying it, and it will reach a much wider audience that way, too.

I concur. That way, there'll be plenty of backups so nobody will have to worry about lost work.

Strychnine · Post by **Strychnine** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 8:18 pm

I do think it would be more productive to modify existing entries. Although, I am not aware if there is a general "shmups" entry in wiki. If there isn't, we should create one.

To paraphrase the posessed belmont in SotN - a Wikipedia would allow us to carry on the fight (arguments!!!) for all eternity! And even more direct and less polite than usual. Instead of the subtle , "STFU N00bf4gg0x0r j00 is t3h WRONG11!!!!!" we will have the far more direct editing and re-editing of others entries.

shmups.system11.org

Should we have a Shmups Wiki?

Wiki?

Should we have a Shmups Wiki?

?

you're sure about that?