Forum:Character article changes

Forums: Index > The Labyrinth of Time > Character article changes

Add voice section for characters in releases's with voices?

Where does merchandise go?
How to handle ability sections: Forum:Characters' battle-related information
Stats-- VII pages lack them, and surely we have more in-depth details for IX? VIII's didn't have the tables until I added them.
Weapon lists and ability lists. Rosa Joanna Farrell#In Battle. I understand a need for these tables, but I've never liked the look of them. However I might be being unreasonable and unhelpful.
How to handle "As a boss" information. As a sub-section of Battle? I'm not sure it's the best place, and it might deserve its own section entirely. Also apparently Garnet Til Alexandros XVII doesn't have one.

Something to start off. Discuss each point and its inclusion in the standard character article. JBed (talk) 18:35, May 1, 2013 (UTC)

Merch above Trivia, or just towards the bottom in general. I think any ability sections should be below their story or A+P section with stats below that, including main "job," use of magic if existing, any Limit Breaks or special, unique techniques. Weapon lists could maybe just link to the List of...yadayadayada articles if they might be deemed too obtrusive on the article itself. Boss and Battle should be put in as one, it makes more sense to keep them together. Tia-Lew ise

18:43, May 1, 2013 (UTC)

I'd say that for playable party members (including villains that are playable like Seymour, Sephy, Golbez), Battle should be the overall header, with Stats, Abilities, Equipment, and Boss as sub-headers since all four of them are related to the character in battle, regardless of which side of the screen they're on for it. Stats compares their stats to other party members, Abilities notes command skills, links to skillset pages if needed, lists their spells and links to the game's spell list, and notes their Limit Breaks and links to the article for the game's Limit Break system, Equipment see further down, Boss links to all relevant articles for when they are fought and provides context. For characters that are not playable, just Boss as the overall header (some of our villain pages describe their story abilities, which are crufty and not very important IMO). For FF4 in particular, Battle as the overall header, then FF4 and TAY as sub-headers, then the four sections as sub-sub-headers.

The equipment tables, I don't much see a use for them either, the equipment list itself isn't that helpful since no one reading the article will understand what those equipment pieces do, they need the List of pages which note on their own who can use what. Equipment sections can be limited to noting what equipment types the user can use, their initial equipment, and what, if any, exclusive and ultimate weapons they can use.

A voice section is a good idea, getting quotes is simple for those who know how (use this site to grab raw mp3s from gameplay vids on YouTube then chop it up with Audacity).

Merchandise, I would put just above Gallery, but I could see it above Trivia too. I do agree however it should be on the lower end of the page.

Doreiku Kuroofangu 18:50, May 1, 2013 (UTC)

All character articles follow the same format, however many sections are exclusive to playable characters.
*If the character is playable, an infobox designed for the game in which the character appears (''see [[:Category:Infobox templates]] for boxes'').
*An intro, which determines which games the characters is from and their role within the game and a brief explanation of the character in terms of setting and personality.
*An '''Appearance and Personality''' to describe how they appear in their releases in terms of features and attire, and their personality and character within them.
*A '''Story''' section about the role of the character in the series of events that involve them. Divided by events (e.g. early life), and also by game if the timelines do not overlap.
*A '''Battle''' section if the character ever features in battles. Contains general information about their general battle style or job. Divided by release if the character appears with this information in multiple appearances.
**A '''Stats''' sub-section if the character is playable and has unique stat information. For listing base stats, and stat growth data specific to the character.
**An '''Abilities''' sub-section if the character is playable and has abilities specific or related to them. General discussion of abilities and links to the relevant articles for them are featured here. This includes all command and support abilities, including Limit Breaks.
**An '''Equipment''' sub-section if the character has their own equipment not shared by every character or the release involves weapon proficiencies. Statement of weapon types and weapons equippable by the character are made here, and a link to the release's weapons article.
**A '''Boss''' sub-section if the character appears in a boss battle. Mentions of when and where they are fought, and general comments on how they fight, as well as links to the boss pages are featured here.
*A '''Creation and Development''' section describing behind the scenes work.
**A '''Voice''' sub-section if the character appears in a voice acted game with audible lines. Mentions of the voice actor, comments on the voice, and a sample of the character speaking are featured here.
*A '''Musical Themes''' section if the character has themes unique to them. Details said themes based on the soundtrack and in-game occurrences, with a sample of a version of their theme present.
*An '''Other Appearances''' section if the character has appearances in releases outside of their original storyline but within the first-tier of the wiki's scope.
*A '''Non-''Final Fantasy'' Appearances''' section if the character has appearances in releases outside of the first-tier of the wiki's scope.
*A '''Merchandise''' section if any official merchandise made for the character has been released.
*A '''Gallery''' section featuring images relating to the character that show something but are otherwise not placed in the article. Larger galleries are often separated by game and made collapsible.
*An '''Etymology''' section describing the etymological roots of the character's name, and alternative names of the character in foreign translations of the game.
*A '''Trivia''' section describing any popular culture references or other information that does not fit into other sections.
*An '''External Links''' section linking to official and informative resources relating to the character.
*The [[:Category:Navigation Templates|navigation templates]] related to the character, ordinarily the templates for the releases they appear in, and potentially {{tl|Characters}} if they fulfill the criteria.
*The relevant categories associated with the character.

Satisfactory? One thing to highlight is that I changed "Other Appearances" and "Non-Final Fantasy Appearances" to just "Other Appearances".

Now this may be a discussion for another time, but the way we do this is odd. On recurring-thing pages, what we do (or did, I changed a lot of them in the past I think) is have all releases in the second-tier of our scope be put in "Non-FF Appearances", and all appearances outside of our scope go in an "Other Appearances" section.

Firstly: While we are the FFWiki, and our intros say "recurring in the Final Fantasy series", since some games are in our scope but still not FF games, it seems strange to separate, for example, Vagrant Story from Parasite Eve. One essentially being called an FF game, while the other not.

Secondly: This contradicts what single-appearances pages do. Single-appearance pages merges the function of the recurring page's Other Appearances and Non-FF Appearances section into "Non-FF Appearances", and games in our scope but not in the single-appearance go in "Other Appearances".

The way I'd prefer it is to just have "Other Appearances". Games in the first-tier of our scope are listed at the top (in the order), followed by the games in the second-tier of our scope (in the order), followed by anything outside of our scope but relevant to the thing in question (in case-by-case order of relevance and significance to the thing).

Also, I'd personally prefer characters-who-are-only-bosses to have their boss section to be called "Battle" instead of "Boss" (as in, "Battle" is the name of the h2 and there is no h3). JBed (talk) 14:00, May 24, 2013 (UTC)

I'd move the "Voice" section directly under the "Appearance and Personality" as often voice helps to define character's personality (Vanille is the prime example here). I'd keep "Other Appearances" and "Non-Final Fantasy Appearances" section separate.—Kaimi (999,999 CP/5 TP) 14:11, May 24, 2013 (UTC)

Firstly: Voice section, I agree, and amended.

Secondly: Hmmm.... "Yep, I noticed this too. We should merge Other Appearances with Non-Final Fantasy Appearances as simple Other Appearances. With this, the in-the-universe appearances could be in the beginning of the section whilst out-of-the-universe appearances would be under the in-the-universe appearances. That should solve the thing."

JBed (talk) 14:35, May 24, 2013 (UTC)

Whoops? :P For now, I think all characters having large amount of appearances are currently following the "Other Appearances"/"Non-FF Apparances" section policy correctly, so I think there's no need to change that, at least for now. At the time of that writing, I remember there being quite a confusion with what the "Other Appearances" section should include and it being named "Other Final Fantasy Appearances" would make it clear of what should be included there, but I didn't thought of that solution at that time.
Also, does this policy already applies? I noticed that JBed started to add the "Voice" section like stated in this policy change suggestion, while it is not an official policy of the Wiki.—Kaimi (999,999 CP/5 TP) 17:20, June 5, 2013 (UTC)

Errr, it technically applies. Insofar as "Voice" is accepted on-wiki, it's just not specifically written in policy as a standard. JBed (talk) 17:29, June 5, 2013 (UTC)

We still haven't updated the MoS...But I guess I'll start writing those "Voice" sections then.—Kaimi (999,999 CP/5 TP) 21:15, June 6, 2013 (UTC)

Excuse me, but when are you actually planning to update MoS?—Kaimi (999,999 CP/5 TP) 17:17, June 14, 2013 (UTC)

Wouldn't it be better if the "Voice" section was part of "Creation and Development", since the voice work is part of the behind the scenes process? It would also help if the "Voice" section has anything to be considered spoilers. --FFfangirl (talk) 20:08, June 14, 2013 (UTC)

This was also discussed here. JBed (talk) 18:53, July 21, 2013 (UTC)

Opinions on where to place Voice section needed. Once we got that we can MoS. JBed (talk) 18:53, July 21, 2013 (UTC)

I'd say Creation and Development is an okay place for it. Drake Clawfang (talk) 12:24, July 24, 2013 (UTC)

And that's consensus. If there are no issues with the suggestion above then it can be added to the MoS. 89.243.247.54 12:32, July 24, 2013 (UTC)

The "Voice" section is hard to place in my opinion as it could be placed under "Appearance and Personality" and as a subsection of the "Creation and Development" section, but I won't be that guy who'll say he's always right, because this just halts Wiki's process in expanding itself, so I'll go ahead and say I don't mind the 'new' order.—Kaimi (999,999 CP/5 TP) ∙ 08:55, August 3, 2013 (UTC)

*stamps* Added to MoS; I agree with putting Voice in C&D as well. C A T U S E 16:05, August 3, 2013 (UTC)