UESPWiki:Archive/CP Fanfiction and Fanart

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Fanfiction and Fanart

Maybe it's just me, but I feel that the content on those sections is unencyclopedic and a bit...I don't know that it belongs here. There are two Oblivion fics and one Morrowind, so it's not a well-beloved section. I dunno, I almost want to see them deleted. Somercy 12:58, 21 February 2007 (EST)

Another option that I just thought of is to move them to the User namespace, as subpages of the user who created them. And delete the links from Oblivion:Oblivion and Morrowind:Morrowind. It would remove them from the main article namespace (which is supposed to be encyclopedic) but is less controversial than a deletion. --Nephele 13:24, 21 February 2007 (EST)

The site is not intended to be a 'pure encyclopedia' and I certainly welcome mind such content. It does, however, need to be clearly distinguished from the rest of the encyclopedic-type content. It doesn't really belong in any of the game namespaces even if closely related to a particular game. Offhand the only thing I can think of is to add it to a new FanFiction namespace. This is particularily relevant as someone recently e-mailed me some fan-fiction to put somewhere and I have to figure out where. -- Daveh 14:51, 21 February 2007 (EST)

Perhaps instead of creating a whole namespace for four articles they could be put into "General", with an index article "General:Fanfiction" that lists them all?

Somewhat off-topic, but while checking what currently lives in the "General" namespace, I also noticed that there's a "Review" namespace with nothing in it. Was there an intended purpose for that namespace? In part I'm wondering because this discussion also prompted me to make some suggestions at Oblivion_Talk:Review Page about relocating some user reviews. Or should the "Review" namespace be recycled, since we're talking about a couple new namespaces ("Shadowkey", "Shivering")? --Nephele 15:10, 21 February 2007 (EST)

Well, I think this is really a small issue. As Somercy noted, the number of fanfics on the site is quite small. That being said, I think that a new section for both reviews, fanArt, and fanfics would allow us to differentiate that content from the rest of the site. All we'd need is a simple disclaimer at the top of the page saying something like this:

This section contains information created by the fanbase, such as reviews, fanfictions, and fanart based upon the Elder Scrolls Series of games.

Any comments?--Ratwar 17:44, 21 February 2007 (EST)

If providing space for fanfic is part of the mandate for the site, (Which as it's DaveH's site and he says it is, I think we can take as written,) then clearly it should be in an area outside the CC Licence. I would suggest making a separate name space, full of pages that were locked to prevent editing. This is an additional admin burden though, as new pages created would have to be locked (Or deleted if they were not up to standard, and how you measure that is yet another issue.) Jadrax 23:21, 24 February 2007 (EST)

I agree with Somercy -- Fanfics don't belong here. In addition to being out-of-place, there are several logistical problems:

• Potentially it can explode in size with little oversight. They're not data entries, but rather, original creative works. Which means that they won't be subject to the normal wiki process of review, winnowing and improvement. Wiki content works because it's open to continual review and upgrading. Without such review we can end up with total garbage on the site.
• So, if you don't want total garbage on the site, how do you select it? You need some review and voting policy -- sort of an art committee. Which would be a pain to setup, and would lead to inevitable arguments and fights, since when it comes to such work, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Vs. current fact based work which we have now, which is ultimately subject to testable fact -- a (relatively) clear, testable standard.
• The site is under CC license. Which means that if someone puts a fanfic on the site, then anyone else has the option to edit and change it around completely. Most authors won't like this. And again, there's no objective standard. Who's to say that my modification of the someone else's story (with more tender love scenes, or less tender love scenes, more fighting, or less bombastic writing) is better?
• There are plenty of sites which are dedicated to supporting fan fiction. Their design is better suited to it. For example, a very quick web search returns fanfiction.net: Oblivion.

--Wrye 23:19, 21 February 2007 (EST)

Wrye, you made my points even more coherent...marry me? Somercy 12:38, 22 February 2007 (EST)

 :) --Wrye 19:18, 23 February 2007 (EST)

Overall, I agree that fanfiction doesn't seem to belong on a wiki. For now, though, I'm going to move them to the General namespace and add categories and bread crumb trails. This will at least avoid having readers confuse them for articles about the games. And it's also part of some reorganization that I'm doing with the general namespace that will hopefully make it a bit easier for readers to find content located there. Since I'm on a roll right now, I'm going to go ahead and do it... from the previous comments it doesn't seem like anyone objects to the idea. --Nephele 15:35, 2 March 2007 (EST)

Is there any set way of submitting fanfics here? Or do you just create a page in the proper place? 24.1.3.132 10:50, 3 March 2007 (EST)

Just create a page in the General Namespace, and link it off General:Fanfiction--Ratwar 10:56, 3 March 2007 (EST)

Cool! Thanks, I sometimes have trouble navigating this wiki... 24.1.3.132 10:58, 3 March 2007 (EST)