Forum:CT:Naming Star Wars Galaxies

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The result of the debate was support proposal 2. Cade GalacticRepublicEmblem-Traced-TORkit Calrayn 00:55, 6 October 2024 (UTC)

Hi, the purpose of this CT is to adopt a correct policy regarding how the video game Star Wars Galaxies should appear in the Appearances section of related in-universe articles.

The game was released in 2003 as Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided. As a MMORPG, it received recurrent updates (the big updates were known as "Publish") and many patches over the years. Moreover, the biggest content additions were released as expansion packs: Jump to Lightspeed in 2004 (introduction of space content), Rage of the Wookiees in 2005 (new planet: Kashyyyk) and Trials of Obi-Wan also in 2005 (new planet: Mustafar).

So everything looks simple but...

Everything changed ad the end of the year 2005. The devs introduced "Publish 25," the notorious "New Game Enhancements", often considered as the worst decision even made by game developers. Beyond the validity of the NGE that is still debated, this update made everything more complicated for us. With the NGE, the game was made totally different and the devs assumed the rupture. They quickly stop to increase the "Publish" count and after 2006 released new updates as "Chapters". They also stop to use An Empire Divided in the game title. Moreover, they did not release expansion packs anymore; only some compilation packs were released.

So, since most of Star Wars Galaxies' content was published after the NGE (from 2005 to 2011) and since this content was totally unrelated to the latest expansion pack (addition of Mustafar in Trials of Obi-Wan), the question is how to name the post-2005 game content in the Appearances section. Here are 3 different possible (and opposing) options, that can indeed be improved. Better ideas are also welcome!

Option 1

Use the compilation packs released after the NGE (Starter Kit, The Complete Online Adventures) as they were proper expansion packs. This is the method I currently use. It somehow makes sense because the first compilation pack (Starter Kit) was released the same day than the NGE update. An example is here.

This would mean listing content from Galaxies with the following options:

However, Cade had pointed that the compilation packs were not really expansion packs so they can't be used in Appearances. I propose to do an exception.

This would mean adding a Miscellaneous subheading to the Wookieepedia:Layout Guide/In-universe's Appearances section with the following bullet point:

  • Content from the video game Star Wars Galaxies should be attributed to the most recent expansion or compilation pack of the game relative to the content's release date.

Option 2

Alternatively, we could move the article Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided back to Star Wars Galaxies as it was previously, and attribute post-2005 content to Star Wars Galaxies. As said above, the devs quickly stops to use An Empire Divided after 2005. An Empire Divided could also be split back off into its own article if it's deemed sufficiently warranted.

This would mean attributing content from Galaxies to the following options:

This would mean adding a Miscellaneous subheading to the Wookieepedia:Layout Guide/In-universe's Appearances section with the following bullet point:

  • Content from the video game Star Wars Galaxies should be attributed, based on its release date, to either the base game Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided, its three expansion packs, or simply Star Wars Galaxies for all content released following the New Game Enhancements in November 2005.

Voting

Option 1: List compilation packs

  1. Hk 47 (talk) 21:49, 22 September 2024 (UTC) This is my favorite but I will be happy to accept the proposal that get the majority.

Option 2: List Star Wars Galaxies for all post-2005 content, and distinguish between An Empire Divided base game and post-2005 content

  1. Galaxies is unusual as it doesn't seem to function like a standard MMO, but I would strenuously object to the listing of the compilation packs, as they are not actual releases of new content but simply commercial repackaging of old content. As Hk has pointed out above, they essentially dropped the An Empire Divided subtitle after the NGE, which leads me to say we should treat everything post NGE as the same game. The AED branding could even be spun off into its own article, but that's a discussion we can have at a later date. Cade GalacticRepublicEmblem-Traced-TORkit Calrayn 21:25, 22 September 2024 (UTC)
    • The more I think about it, the more I think we should merge proposals 2 and 3 in order to have Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided for the base game and Star Wars Galaxies (NGE, post-2005, post-NGE...) for the latest period of the game. I figured out that there are articles like this one that contains information from both the base game and the late game. If we have only Star Wars Galaxies for the post-2005 content, readers could be confused and think that Star Wars Galaxies is the base game and Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided is an expansion, Hk 47 (talk) 10:35, 23 September 2024 (UTC)
      • I've merged the two options, and we can determine the formatting of the post-2005 denotation later. Cade GalacticRepublicEmblem-Traced-TORkit Calrayn 14:33, 23 September 2024 (UTC)
  2. I agree with Cade on the compilation as just commercial repack that we should not care about as appearances. NanoLuukeCloning Facility 14:58, 23 September 2024 (UTC)
  3. JMAS Jolly Trooper Hey, it's me! 22:49, 23 September 2024 (UTC)
  4. Imperators II(Talk) 06:37, 24 September 2024 (UTC)
  5. —spookywillowwtalk 17:59, 25 September 2024 (UTC)
  6. Janomoogo (talk) 18:09, 26 September 2024 (UTC)
  7. Artemaeus-Creed (talk) 12:32, 27 September 2024 (UTC)
  8. Per Cade's reasoning. — Commander Bhatoa (talk) 18:49, 27 September 2024 (UTC)
  9. Lewisr (talk) 01:38, 3 October 2024 (UTC)
  10. In Cade We Trust Fan26 (Talk) 17:44, 5 October 2024 (UTC)

Discuss

  • I'll would like to support this, but I have a issue with the current form of the proposal: it lack a place in one of our policy page to secularize the rule, otherwise it would be difficult to refer to the rule in the future (like with SWTOR's CTS, which I aim to correct in the near future). I've not considered all options, and someone else might provides a better idea, but it seems like a good fit for a new sub-section ("Miscellaneous" maybe ?) under Wookieepedia:Layout Guide/In-universe's Appearances section. NanoLuukeCloning Facility 11:42, 22 September 2024 (UTC)
  • Proposals 1 and 2 are inherently contradictory, and cannot pass together; I would suggest merging those into two different voting options on the same proposal. Also, my suggestion would be to do [[Star Wars Galaxies#An Empire Divided|''Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided'']] for base game content, and everything post-2005 be listed simply as ''[[Star Wars Galaxies]]''. Cade GalacticRepublicEmblem-Traced-TORkit Calrayn 14:57, 22 September 2024 (UTC)
    • Sorry if it was not clear, the idea was to choose only one of the proposals. Not all together. Best, Hk 47 (talk) 19:08, 22 September 2024 (UTC)
  • Would it be very inaccurate to keep/modify option 3 to keep it simple by just listing Star Wars Galaxies in all cases (instead of pipelinking An Empire Divided in some)? Imperators II(Talk) 06:38, 23 September 2024 (UTC)
    • Hi, it would be rather incorrect to use the same naming for the base game and the post-2005 game, especially if we use the expansion' name in between. Hk 47 (talk) 10:25, 23 September 2024 (UTC)