Author Topic: Unreleased content  (Read 7272 times)

Sekoia

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Unreleased content
« on: December 01, 2012, 08:54:27 AM »
The Article Guidelines currently forbid the inclusion of any content that wasn't officially announced or acknowledged. Now that the servers are dark, do we want to change this policy?

I'm somewhat in favor of allowing unannounced content at this point. I do think we should heavily disclaim it, something like: "This content was never officially announced as it was still under development when Paragon Studios was disbanded. It would have likely undergone significant further revision before release."

Related past discussion can be found on the Article Guidelines talk page.

Glass Goblin

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Re: Unreleased content
« Reply #1 on: December 01, 2012, 06:08:25 PM »
I'm in favor of including unreleased content, with the proposed disclaimer. It gets a bit stickier with planned systemic changes, such as the upcoming power customization options. Maybe there could be a consistent template color/header to indicate unreleased and unfinished additions and changes?

eabrace

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Re: Unreleased content
« Reply #2 on: December 01, 2012, 11:34:44 PM »
I'm fine with allowing it using a tag similar to the {{Issue24}} template.
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Golden Girl

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Re: Unreleased content
« Reply #3 on: December 01, 2012, 11:40:13 PM »
I think you could also include bits from the "lorgasm" thread where the devs spilled info on their future plans for CoH.
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eabrace

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Re: Unreleased content
« Reply #4 on: December 01, 2012, 11:49:27 PM »
Loregasm already qualifies as being released info given that it was officially posted by the red names on the CoH boards.
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Glass Goblin

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Re: Unreleased content
« Reply #5 on: December 03, 2012, 03:53:16 AM »
I still think we should differentiate between "stuff that was released in the final Live client" and "stuff on Beta, Test, mentioned in Loregasm or the forums, or on Twitch TV broadcasts."

The Fifth Horseman

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Re: Unreleased content
« Reply #6 on: December 03, 2012, 11:08:22 AM »
Technically speaking, the Beta content was released to the public when Beta became available to all account holders prior to the shutdown.
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Glass Goblin

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Re: Unreleased content
« Reply #7 on: December 03, 2012, 12:58:03 PM »
Technically speaking, the Beta content was released to the public when Beta became available to all account holders prior to the shutdown.

Well, okay, let's define terms. For me, "released" refers to content released to the public in the promoted, official, live build. "Unreleased" covers pretty much everything else, but within that rough grouping are varying degrees of complation and/or reliability.

Sekoia

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Re: Unreleased content
« Reply #8 on: December 03, 2012, 04:15:42 PM »
I'm in favor of at least three categories:

Released - content that made it to the live client.

Announced - content that was announced, by whatever means (including being accessible in the beta client through normal gameplay), but hadn't yet made it to the live client

Unannounced - content that was never announced, but we have some source of reliable information that at least gives us a sense for where things stood at the time of the closure (an example would be powers info or new map info acquired by PIGG diving)


I agree that loregasm info generally falls under "released". However, it's tricky because some of the lore is more in the direction of what they were planning or what would have happened in the future. That means it would have been subject to change. So we should probably qualify such info as such. (Much in the same way we'd quality other announced stuff that hadn't yet been released.)

eabrace

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Re: Unreleased content
« Reply #9 on: December 03, 2012, 04:30:14 PM »
I agree that loregasm info generally falls under "released". However, it's tricky because some of the lore is more in the direction of what they were planning or what would have happened in the future. That means it would have been subject to change. So we should probably qualify such info as such. (Much in the same way we'd quality other announced stuff that hadn't yet been released.)
Agreed.  I'm almost thinking that inclusion of Loregasm info may best be done in an article's History section (or that addition of such if the page doesn't already have one) noting that the info indicates planned directions that may have changed during development.
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corvus1970

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Re: Unreleased content
« Reply #10 on: December 03, 2012, 10:21:56 PM »
While never having worked on THIS wiki, I've used it for years, and personally I really think this stuff should be included, with the above-mentioned disclaimers.
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Blondeshell

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Re: Unreleased content
« Reply #11 on: December 05, 2012, 07:08:48 PM »
I'm in favor of at least three categories:

Released - content that made it to the live client.

Announced - content that was announced, by whatever means (including being accessible in the beta client through normal gameplay), but hadn't yet made it to the live client

Unannounced - content that was never announced, but we have some source of reliable information that at least gives us a sense for where things stood at the time of the closure (an example would be powers info or new map info acquired by PIGG diving)


I agree that loregasm info generally falls under "released". However, it's tricky because some of the lore is more in the direction of what they were planning or what would have happened in the future. That means it would have been subject to change. So we should probably qualify such info as such. (Much in the same way we'd quality other announced stuff that hadn't yet been released.)

My vote would be to continue using the {{Issue24}} tag for anything that was announced/visible on beta before shutdown. I made a tentative {{Unannounced}} tag for other content, pending any further discussion we have about it.

eabrace

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Re: Unreleased content
« Reply #12 on: December 05, 2012, 11:53:49 PM »
Works for me!
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Rigel Kent

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Re: Unreleased content
« Reply #13 on: December 12, 2012, 08:06:52 AM »
With the servers gone, developer communication and the client data are the only verifiable primary sources on the game left. It'd be loony not to accept both.

On to the details, then?

The development and release history of a feature, including when and whether it was discovered or announced, and when and whether it went to beta or live, is something I expect in articles on a game wiki. Besides, if the wiki just says "Wind Control was a set" like "Earth Control was a set," readers might get the wrong idea about what was actually happening in the game.

Also, for verification's sake, features that were discovered but not announced should specify, somewhere, how the features were found. Not as a mark of shame on the article, but just so people know we didn't make Wind Control up.

Sekoia

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Re: Unreleased content
« Reply #14 on: December 12, 2012, 01:53:53 PM »
The development and release history of a feature, including when and whether it was discovered or announced, and when and whether it went to beta or live, is something I expect in articles on a game wiki. Besides, if the wiki just says "Wind Control was a set" like "Earth Control was a set," readers might get the wrong idea about what was actually happening in the game.

The power set articles generally have a "Historical" section where information like this is added, noting when the set was first introduced and when it proliferated. As an example: Earth Control. The same kind of section would definitely make sense for other kinds of articles where it applies as well.

Also, for verification's sake, features that were discovered but not announced should specify, somewhere, how the features were found.

I think that's a good idea.