Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe:Good Style

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This is an etiquette and style guide for VirtueVerse Wiki articles. It does not address HOW to write, or even WHAT to write. The focus here is more along the lines of presentation.

[1]

Contents

Definition of Terms

(this list is under construction)

Affiliation

a: to bring or receive into close connection as a member or branch
b: to associate as a member <affiliates herself with the local club>

It is best not to use this unless you're sure that the other party would agree to the affiliation, in other words do not associate your character with a supergroup or other organization unless your character is actually affiliated with that group.

In the case of NPC affiliations:
Patrons: Your character should have either completed or be in the process of completing that NPC's Patron story arc.
Organizations: Your character can associate themselves with an In-Game Organization, however VirtueVerse is not the place to reproduce in-game canon. Please keep these affiliations as references only and direct viewers to the ParagonWiki article for more information.

In-Game Canon

In-Game canon is defined by NCSoft as part of the official game storyline. This may include characters, NPC Contacts, Hero or Villain Groups, story arcs, and so forth. These items would not be limited to one character or group, but would be experienced by any and all characters that encounter them. These items can (and should!) be used as 'hooks' for character development, but should not need to be defined as their own Virtueverse Wiki entries in the Main Namespace. Instead, a link to any ParagonWiki articles should be sufficient.

Character Pages

Each character page is considered to be VirtueVerse 'canon' for that character. The page author (usually the player of that character) has an idea of their motivations, background history, and personality, and as such, this needs to be respected. However, to best dovetail one character into the milieu that is the Virtueverse, it's a good idea to write up your character's profile from an objective viewpoint.

What to Include

You should include:

You may also wish to include:

What Not to Include

Example: "Hero X has patrolled the contested Siren's Call Zone for months, tirelessly accosting any villains he found skulking about."

instead of

"Hero X has a reputation of 300 in SC."

A Note on Badge Collections

Some players like to include listings of their badges, but again, since this is primarily an RP resource, using one's badge collection as story hooks is encouraged. For example, "Task Force Commander" could be used as a lead-in to a series of tales based on the task forces accomplished, "Around the Bendis" could be used as a locale "souvenir" for a tale set in Perez Park, et cetera.

Point of View

So far, the best viewpoint to adopt is of an objective unbiased third party. Many approach this as a news reporter writing a story about the character, or a government official transcribing notes about the character into a database.

Group Pages

Group pages are very much like character pages - they present a 'public view' of the group. Again, an objective third party writing style is the accepted norm, or barring that, what a publicist for the group would write, in order to attract interested parties.

What to Include

You should definitely consider including:

If the group is affiliated with other groups (coalitions) or opposed to any groups (rivalries), these items can also be listed.

Story Pages

There really is no 'style guide' for stories, other than the standard style for writing (poetry or prose). The major points are, keep it readable, keep it engaging, and keep it fun. Stories are considered to be 'Virtueverse canon' insofar as the subject of the story is concerned.

If your story assumes certain things from other characters or groups, do consider a co-author or editing arrangement to keep things straight. Many authors of 'group stories' use a program called MoonEdit for collaborative writing projects. Or, you can trade drafts via email, or 'flesh out' a chat log between all of the characters.

Game canon should be considered (if not always accepted word for word). Some leeway is expected, but naming Lord Recluse as your character's long-lost cousin or bastard father would be pushing things[2]. (This should probably be fleshed out better with some examples and links to descriptions of Mary sues and the such.)

Wiki Editing

Editing Your Own Pages

You are freely encouraged to edit your own pages, either to add material, or to clarify something already there. However, if you decide to 'retcon' or otherwise do a mass pruning on your character, please take a look at the "What Links Here" link in the Special Pages section. This will list all the pages that link to yours... and will potentially be impacted by your edits. If your character doesn't seem to be a mover and a shaker in the Virtueverse, with many others basing their RP off of your character history, it's a good bet that anything you change will likely not be noticed. But, if you're, say, Ascendant... a major retcon will probably evoke howls of dismay and gnashing of teeth.

Editing Other People's Pages

It is generally accepted that edits for spelling, grammar, and presentation are OK, as long as you don't alter the story being told. Editing for content is regarded as risky, generally bringing forth the displeasure of the page creator[3]. If you're in doubt, consider asking the original author, or copying the text you planned to include/rewrite on the character's Talk page, requesting comments from the author.

If an edit you make is reverted by either the page author or one of the admins, please do not resubmit the edit. The reversion is a very clear sign that either the page author or the admins consider your edit inappropriate. Discuss the edit on the talk page or on the Virtueverse Forums.

Redirects

If your character is known by many names, you are encouraged to create redirect pages to point to the main article. However, creating redirects to pages other than your own is risky, and should only be done with the consent of the author of the target page. Malicious redirects are classed as Vandalism.

Images

Substituting your images for ones already on a page is verboten, unless you have discussed the substitution with the page author and gained their approval. Do not edit, re-upload, or otherwise 'swap out' existing images. They can be reverted, but it's a bloody hassle, and puts the moderators and admins in a "ban somebody!" frame of mind.

Conduct and Vandalism

This is an excerpt from the Acceptable Use Policy of the hosting provider FOR Virtueverse, the folks that provide the storage space and bandwidth:

Morally objectionable activities will include, but not be limited to: activities designed to defame, embarrass, harm, abuse, threaten, slander or harass third parties; activities prohibited by the laws of the United States and/or foreign territories in which You conduct business; activities designed to encourage unlawful behavior by others, such as hate crimes, terrorism and child pornography; activities that are tortuous, vulgar, obscene, invasive of the privacy of a third party, racially, ethnically, or otherwise objectionable; activities designed to impersonate the identity of a third party; illegal access to other computers or networks (i.e., hacking); distribution of Internet viruses or similar destructive activities; and activities designed to harm or use unethically minors in any way.
The VirtueVerse hosting provider states you may NOT publish or transmit any content that is reasonably believed to:
  • constitutes child pornography
  • constitutes illegal pornography
  • is excessively violent, incites violence, threatens violence, or contains harassing content or hate speech
  • is unfair or deceptive under the consumer protection laws of any jurisdiction, including chain letters and pyramid schemes
  • is defamatory or violates a person's privacy
  • creates a risk to a person's safety or health, creates a risk to public safety or health
  • compromises national security, or interferes with a investigation by law enforcement
  • improperly exposes trade secrets or other confidential or proprietary information of another person
  • is intended to assist others in defeating technical copyright protections
  • clearly infringes on another person's trade or service mark, patent, or other property right
  • promotes illegal drugs, violates export control laws, relates to illegal gambling, or illegal arms trafficking
  • is otherwise illegal or solicits conduct that is illegal under laws applicable to you or to the hosting provider; or
  • is otherwise malicious, fraudulent, or may result in retaliation by offended viewers

For more information see the VirtueVerse About page and Terms of Use. Please don't cross the above boundaries within any page that you write. We all know this is a reference and encyclopedia for "pretendy fun-time games", but bringing the Real World into play in the above ways will be considered grounds for an immediate and permanent ban (and the offending content being removed from the wiki.)

Please do not engage in personal attacks or sniping via talk pages or articles. It's one thing to list your character as a foil or nemesis to someone else's character. However, using your character page to trash the reputation of the other character is frowned upon. Try to limit it to common history, and indicate that the two characters do not get along well. If you wish to showcase opinions your character has of another character, please make it clear that they are opinions only.

Attacking other players/contributors is a definite no-no. There are plenty of other mediums available on the Internet to engage in that type of behavior. Such contributions will be pruned, and may result in banning of accounts.

  • Purposefully vandalizing someone else's page is grounds for an immediate and indefinite ban of your Wiki account.
  • 'Prank' edits of pages, or prank redirects posted to existing pages, are considered vandalism, and are dealt with as such.

If you find your page has been edited (per the guidelines above) and you feel it's not warranted, place a note on the editor's talk page, telling them why you disagree. Please do so politely. If the user continues please contact a Sysop, or make a post to the Abuse forum.

Keep in mind that every page on the Wiki has a history associated with it. Anyone can view this history, and compare prior versions of each page posted. As such, edits will leave "breadcrumbs" that can be traced back to the person(s) responsible, and/or be used to restore pages that have been edited without the author's consent. The Wiki admins will use this history to undo malicious/prank edits, and also to determine the person(s) responsible so as to block further digital mayhem.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Help with Writing: If you need help with writing mechanics, Strunk and White's Elements of Style is by far the most-cited source. Feel free to snag a copy from your local library, new or used bookstore, or the retired English Composition teacher down the block.
  2. ↑ Besides which, we know he'd deny it out of spite, anyway.
  3. ↑ The administrators of the Virtueverse Wiki tend to be militant about this too, considering it is their job to maintain all of this in the absence of the page creators.
Retrieved from "http://virtueverse.net/wiki/Unofficial_Handbook_of_the_Virtue_Universe:Good_Style"
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