Robot Wars Wiki talk:Community Portal/Archive 3

People
Its great that we have such a wide variety of articles being created, but I would really like some back-breaking work into creating/expanding the following articles;


 * Craig Charles
 * Philippa Forrester
 * Julia Reed
 * Jayne Middlemiss
 * Jonathan Pearce
 * Judges
 * Noel Sharkey
 * Mat Irvine
 * and the others.

Especially Johnathon, Craig, Phillipa and Noel, who have been around for so long. We canot call ourselves a Robot Wars encyclopedia without these articles.  Toon Ganondorf    (t    c)  09:43, 7 July 2009 (UTC)


 * I agree. Jeremy Clarkson's article also needs to be expanded to include more about his time on the show. I may start a few of them myself, but not straightaway. Also, I noticed you spelled a few of the names wrong, so I corrected them for you. Christophee (talk) 12:52, 8 July 2009 (UTC)


 * Yeah. Should the articles be called Professor Noel Sharkey, etc.? Or just Noel Sharkey?  Toon Ganondorf    (t    c)  13:09, 8 July 2009 (UTC)


 * I'd leave it as Noel Sharkey, like his Wikipedia article. Christophee (talk) 13:12, 8 July 2009 (UTC)


 * Well I made articles on Jonathan, Philippa, and Noel Sharkey (sorry, I put it down as Prof. Noel Sharkey and I don't know how to edit the name). I'm working on Craig but it may take a while... Thetubberlad 21:30, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

New idea
Ok, I've had this idea mulling in my mind for a while. Now that our wiki is vastly expanding, the current setup of Robot Articles is not working for us.


 * The categorisation is wrong - we have Arnold A. Terminegger under Walkerbots, we have Pussycat under Series 2 seeds, but the biggest problem in my opinion was keeping Mace and Gemini together, because in my opinion, Mace is the far better robot, and is undershadowed by having to share an article.
 * The articles are too long - just look at 259 or All Torque
 * Salek's new results table does not fit alongside the robot template, so the already long articles will be doubled in length once we add them. I've been deliberately avoiding this problem. It works for Roadblock, as Beast of Bodmin's Robot History is long enough to fill the space beside the robot template and avoid a large, unnecessary gap, but I shudder to think of 259's article with the table added.

So, whilst on holidays, I developed an idea. I propose that most articles with two robots be split. For example, Robot the Bruce, Chaos and Chaos 2 would be split; 259, Vector of Armageddon, Corporal Punishment and Wowot would be split; All Torque would be split. However, some, like the Plunderbirds, the Firestorms, the Bulldog Breeds and the Aggrobots would be kept together (but Groundhog would be removed from Firestorm). This would allow the following benefits.


 * Correct categorisation
 * Condensed articles
 * Increased number of articles
 * An increase in the Notables table, with the addition of robots like 3 Stegs to Heaven, Chaos, The Mule, Killerhurtz, Shadow of Napalm, Anarchy, Oblivion and The Big Cheese.
 * A more accurate Finalists template, with Big Brother, Robot the Bruce, Recyclopse, Steg 2, Bodyhammer, Beast of Bodmin and Thing 2 in their correct places on the template, plus the additions of others like Spawn of Scutter, Scutter's Revenge and.
 * More badges up for grabs.

However


 * The seperation of articles will require a re-look into who counts as a mere sequal and who counts as a new robot. For example, the new setup, in my opinion, will make Mega Hurts LT, Corkscrew Two, Thermador and Tetanus Booster merge with their current articles, like we recently did to Robochicken Evo and Spirit of Scorpion.
 * We would also need to create articles such as Twister (UK) and Twister (Dutch), or Prometheus (UK) and Prometheus (USA)

Also

As a result of this, we will need a homepage. Another benefit of this is, due to the new articles for other weight categories, we can have an article like this.


 * Team Cold Fusion - information
 * Pussycat (link to)
 * Bodyhammer (link to)
 * Katnip - information
 * Kitty - information

or a simpler one


 * Team Ivanhoe
 * Splinter (link to)
 * Ivanhoe (link to)

and a mix of all.


 * Adam Clark (I don't know about a name for his team, since it was only one man most of the time)
 * 259 (link to)
 * Middleweight 259 - information
 * Vector of Armageddon (link to)
 * Corporal Punishment (link to)
 * Wowot (link to)

This means we no longer have to worry about all our problems. We would probably need to create a place to discuss names for Teams, as well as who stays and who splits. Does anyone have anything to say on the matter, or any questions on things I may have left out?  Toon Ganondorf    (t    c)  23:31, 10 July 2009 (UTC)


 * If you remember way back when you first joined the wiki, this issue was brought up and I wanted all robots to have separate articles, even if they were from the same team, but I was outnumbered so I agreed to do it the way it is now. So as you'd expect, I am fully on board with this idea. It might be a bit tricky to decide which robots split and which don't, but it will make the articles a lot better. Christophee (talk) 00:16, 11 July 2009 (UTC)


 * I'd back this too. I did think it odd when I've been looking around that Mace & Gemini shared an article, etc... - Salak Talk 01:06, 11 July 2009 (UTC)


 * Right, I'll create a forum for discussion about merging or splitting sometime later - right now I'm wiped.  Toon Ganondorf    (t    c)  16:29, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

Extreme Robot History
I think we should split the extreme robot history into two. It would make it so much easier if the robot histories were in chronological order, and not one big mess; robots like Firestorm and Razer and Behemoth, who appeared a lot in both extremes would have a huge mess. Does anyone agree?  Toon Ganondorf    (t    c)  11:50, 26 July 2009 (UTC)


 * I don't really mind much either way, but if you think it would be better that way then I'm happy to go along with it. Christophee (talk) 23:01, 26 July 2009 (UTC)


 * I will need help, but yes I think we should change it. I'm mostly sick of CBFan throwing a tantrum when we fill in an Extreme 1 history without doing the second one.  Toon Ganondorf    (t    c)  00:03, 27 July 2009 (UTC)


 * I AM still here, you know. CBFan 19:50, 2 August 2009 (UTC)


 * Yes, well its true.  Toon Ganondorf    (t    c)  23:20, 2 August 2009 (UTC)

Honours
I'm getting two new ideas. One I'm going to do regardless, but the second one we need to discuss.


 * The first is to create a new box for non-official honours such as those on the pages of Firestorm, Chaos 2, Gravity, Cassius and Wheely Big Cheese. I'll also add honours such as placings in The Combat Robot Hall of Fame.


 * The second idea is that we put seeds as a similar system to honours. The succession box would work for this. Here are a few examples.

Razer

Firestorm

Mini Morg

Spawn Again

Does this work for anyone? I think it is a good idea, but others would argue that it would clutter the article.  Toon Ganondorf    (t    c)  10:20, 30 July 2009 (UTC)


 * Personally, I think it's unnecesary and fills up the articles with content that doesn't really add a great deal. The first one is a good idea though. Christophee (talk) 15:39, 30 July 2009 (UTC)


 * I still like it, but I'll leave it to the community. I did make an attempt at the box for the first idea called Template:Honours last night, but failed in putting the fine touches on it. Can someone please help me fix it?  Toon Ganondorf     (t    c)  00:01, 31 July 2009 (UTC)

Failed to qualify
For cases that we know, under Series Record, should we put Failed to qualify instead of Did not enter? Only for cases we are 100% sure on?  Toon Ganondorf    (t    c)  12:24, 2 August 2009 (UTC)


 * Yeah, that's a good idea. Christophee (talk) 22:56, 2 August 2009 (UTC)

Video Games
Do you think we should make an article for each of the Robot Wars video games? And acknowledge in a specific Robots article that it appeared in these games? --Zutroy1 (talk) 13:33, 2 August 2009 (UTC)


 * There are already articles, but they are in serious need of development. CBFan 19:50, 2 August 2009 (UTC)


 * I'm pretty sure only one of the games has an article at the moment. Maybe we could have categories for robots that have appeared in each game. Christophee (talk) 22:56, 2 August 2009 (UTC)


 * Sounds like a good idea. I can start on that, if you want. I'll do Arenas of Destruction, perhaps, or Metal Mayhem (I think its called) as I have those two.  Toon Ganondorf    (t    c)  23:26, 2 August 2009 (UTC)

Robot Wars Wiki Feedback
During my scrounge for information, I have received several commendments. Laurie Calvert stated

"a great Wiki entry. Thanks. You've done us proud!"

- Laurie Calvert

and

"Well, what I read about PulverizeR (which is mine) is very good stuff! If you have any questions, please ask! Keep up the good work!"

- Mischa De Graaf, captain of PulverizeR

Just thought I'd give it to you users out there as motivation.

Also, I have just received an email from Kim Davis!!!!!!!!  Toon Ganondorf    (t    c)  09:30, 7 August 2009 (UTC)


 * Wow, you really have done a great job getting in contact with all these roboteers. I'm really happy that they like the wiki. I never really imagined when I started it that it would progress this much in such a small space of time. Speaking of which, the wiki's 18 month anniversary is coming up on August 18th and I wonder whether there is anything we could do to mark the occasion... Christophee (talk) 14:29, 7 August 2009 (UTC)


 * I agree with an aniversary idea, but I can't think of anything.  Toon Ganondorf    (t    c)  07:45, 14 August 2009 (UTC)


 * I'll try my best to think of something in the next two days. If I can't think of anything I suppose I could just send out a message thanking everyone for their contributions so far. Christophee (talk) 10:48, 15 August 2009 (UTC)


 * As you can clearly tell, I wasn't able to think of anything in time for the 18th, but I really think we should make an effort to do something for the two year anniversary when it comes around. No need to think about that now though. Christophee (talk) 23:37, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

Results & Honours tables
Does anybody think it would a good idea to add a section to the top of both of these that specifies the version of the show, like "UK Series" or "Dutch Series" instead of using sub-headings? I think it would look neater on the articles. Christophee (talk) 15:42, 7 August 2009 (UTC)


 * It would require just another addition, like Template:Results_Top. I wish Salek would come back, we could really use his help.  Toon Ganondorf    (t    c)  07:45, 14 August 2009 (UTC)


 * I could have a go at doing it myself if nobody has any objections. Christophee (talk) 10:48, 15 August 2009 (UTC)


 * I've created the templates and added them to PulverizeR. Please tell me what you think and whether they need any improvements. Christophee (talk) 18:01, 15 August 2009 (UTC)