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hakon -> RE: MWiF Wiki (12/19/2008 1:43:13 AM)
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Actually, I think the Rules as Coded would be the place to start. Then other information from manual could be put in, and a strategy section, where one could put some of the post from the per-country strategy treads. The main work here would be to go through the text and create hyperlinks whereever there are interdependencies
Then the unit writeups could be made available, if desired, so that it could be updated. It would probably be best if this could be made directly from the in-game files, or something.
The initial goal would be for the wiki to have the standards of a decent online user manual at launch. If it can reach a level where it is preferred by most users over a PDF or hardcopy, it WILL have a decent amount of traffic. This alone should provide enough motivation for some people to start contributing when they discover bits and pieces of information that is not covered or well explained the original manual. As strategies develop, patches are launched, etc. relevant sections tend to be updated by *someone*.
As stated earlier, it would NOT be the role of the wiki to replace the forums in any way. The wiki should mostly have an objective point of view, while most forums posts are subjective. Only when a forum thread produces actual conclusions (such as some strategy treads), is the content suitable to be extracted and put on the wiki. As mentioned, even just putting up the links to the most important forum posts could be useful to someone learning the game. For instance, a tread treating the pro's and con's of stuffing the border with Russia could link into the relevant posts both on this forum, and the yahoo list, if actually typing it out is too much work.
As for the legal aspects, I think it's common that such sites are hosted by the community rather than the distributors. I am no lawyer, but I guess this could be due to the possibility of liability risks, etc. I guess that this would mean that it would not *officially* be part of what you buy when you buy the game. This means that any content provided by Steve/Matrix/ADG should probably have their licensing conditions set in such a way that it is legal to distribute this information. I guess that the Matrix legal department should get a say about this in any case.
The community would also have the option to set up such a site without help from Steve/Matrix, but given the complexity of the game and the somewhat limited number of potential players (this is not WoW),I think having access to the original manual text would make it much more likely that the wiki would actually be able to function of the de facto user manual, which would not only improve the customer experience of the game, but also possibly take some of the preassure off the development project
Cheers
Hakon
Cheers
Hakon
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