Battlestar Wiki talk:Think Tank/Separate continuity change

Comments

I've read Motherfraker's proposal and disagree strongly on this proposal. The primary reason why the separate continuity policy was made was to allow inclusion of Battlestar Galactica information that partially or totally contradicts aired content. By marking it and restricting inclusion of sep/con information into aired content, we ensure that Battlestar Wiki became one of the most detailed references for all officially licensed or aired series information. The alternative would be (1) allowing the process that this proposal offered, which will lead to staggering contradictions and continuity problems that would diminish BW's effectiveness as an encyclopedia, or (2) prohibiting all non-aired content, as Memory Alpha, the Star Trek Wiki, tends to do. A point of example of how officially licensed work could wreck a lot of canonical articles: The miniseries novelization contains references to Jane Cally, Brad Socinus and Natasi. These character names wholly contradict aired content. However, the novelization page notes the differences, which makes for interesting comparisons. (Note that these names have articles here dispite their continuity.)

Separate continuity works very well as (1) story arcs from novels, comics and the like can be linked together, (2) character information specific to the sep/con article acts as a tie-in without affecting the canonical article (take the useful "Battlestar Galactica 0" comic and the content on the incarnation of Zak Adama there).

Separate continuity articles allow free and expansive detail of the publication or merchandise and its values without creating headaches in tying it in the other continuities. Being "separate continuity" doesn't exclude, but allows categorization and inclusion. Any other option will create a chaotic situation.

I appreciate Motherfraker's enthusiasm for the saga and intent. However, this would be a very time consuming and unnecessary change that would drastically change the effectiveness of the wiki and increase confusion and work for all contributors. --Spencerian 01:14, 1 January 2007 (CST)

It shouldn't be included freely into the main articles, as not many people read the comics or the novels, and could thus be confused. But appending it in a seperate section might just work. That upholds the distinction between the continuities (I hate the word canon). However I'm not sure if it's really needed --Serenity 08:12, 1 January 2007 (CST)

From the proposal, I would not vote for this. Maybe in terms of "See Also" could be in order. Shane ^{(T - C - E)} 09:29, 1 January 2007 (CST)

I pretty much agree with what Serenity said. I don't particulary care for the inclusion of non-canon information in the canon articles, with notable exceptions. With this in mind, one solution I've had might be best to treat the seperate continuity items in their own article. For instance, The Twelve Colonies (RDM comic) would have information on the colonies, including Sagitarron, from the Zarek comics, whereas the The Twelve Colonies (RDM) would have the information from the series. The only other solution that I can presently come up with is to prohibit all non-aired content, as Spencerian said, and move this all to a separate Battlestar Wiki focusing solely on officially licensed fiction works. -- Joe Beaudoin ^{So say we all - Donate} 09:33, 1 January 2007 (CST)

What I meant is include it in the main articles, but in its own sub-section there. Just under another header like we know have "Notes" or "See also". It just shouldn't be mixed randomly with TV information.

Of course for large articles, like the mentioned info in the Colonies as whole, that's not such a good idea. A seperate article is clearly better then. But if it's just one or two snippets of comic info, including it in the article might be fine.

But since that creates the need to make distinctions again, maybe it would be easier to make just one rule.... --Serenity 09:48, 1 January 2007 (CST)