Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-3060460-20140303232418/@comment-1504072-20140418103519

In a chat session in late March, Fantomas and myself decided to allow fanon articles to be written for the wiki, which has enabled us to gauge more people's opinions on the topic.

Some comments on this issue was discussed on one of the fanon article's talk pages, so posting them here.

Talk:Catherine_Black(JL) wrote:

Since when did fanon stuff became part of this wiki?
News to me. 96.59.223.143 17:03, March 31, 2014 (UTC)
 * Fairly recently. Fantomas and I thought it was a good idea, so long as it is clearly marked as such, and doesn't link from any of the main articles. --Bluerock (talk) 17:07, March 31, 2014 (UTC)
 * I am very much against this idea, I think this Wiki should be about official releases only. If you want to have fan-made stuff, make a separate sister Wiki - Star Trek fans did this right with Memory Alpha for canon entries and Memory Beta for non-canon ones. M3n747 (talk) 14:34, April 14, 2014 (UTC)
 * Agreed. 96.59.223.143 14:57, April 14, 2014 (UTC)
 * If there's a strong case for it, maybe that's what we'll do, but so far, most people have been quite positive towards it being included here. --Bluerock (talk) 17:50, April 14, 2014 (UTC)
 * Fan-made stuff, while undeniably good at times, simply doesn't belong in a place that is supposed to contain verifiable information sourced from official releases. I visit this Wiki to read about intricacies of the plot of the games, to get details of certain events or insight into some characters - if I feel like reading about the Snakes going on a fishing trip, I head to Fanfiction.net. This Wiki, along with the aforementioned Memory Alpha, is one of the most comprehensive Wikis I know and I wouldn't want to see it diluted by inconsequential stuff. The worst-case example of such dilution I can name is Wookiepedia, which sources nearly everything you can think of, resulting in bloated articles full of information that has sod-all to do with any of the films. An extreme example, sure, but the same general idea - just stick to what's in the actual games and leave other stuff for other places. I can't make a case much stronger than that. :) M3n747 (talk) 20:42, April 15, 2014 (UTC)


 * M3n747 - You don't like fanon, fine no big deal. But I don't think you should be saying fan fiction material should be removed from the wiki. If you don't want to look at it then don't. Don't open the page, don't ruin other people's fun just because you don't like it. Croyez-en les Militaires Sans Frontières! (talk) 21:38, April 15, 2014 (UTC)
 * I'm not saying I don't like it (I wrote my own share of fanfics back in the day), I'm saying that sort of thing has its own place and here's not it. Once you start allowing fan-made content you invite all sorts of it in, and then you're potentially looking at a flood of irrelevance - after all, who's to say that a silly 200-word story about the Mk. II falling in love with a Dwarf Gekko doesn't belong here? Relegate fan works to a sister Wiki, and have a page on fan content here, linking to that sister Wiki - your fan stuff is still available, it's accessible through this Wiki, but everything is neatly filed and separated (I came across one of those fanfic characters in one category with canon characters, which is just misleading). M3n747 (talk) 22:33, April 15, 2014 (UTC)


 * So? There's a banner that says it's a fanon on the top of the page, plus it's in it's own category. It doesn't need to be removed from the wiki. Croyez-en les Militaires Sans Frontières! (talk) 22:40, April 15, 2014 (UTC)


 * I've put forth my view on the matter and I leave it here for the consideration of others. M3n747 (talk) 08:22, April 17, 2014 (UTC)


 * I'm going to give out my honest opinion here now. Wikis are not a place for fan fiction stories. You got websites like DeviantArt and FanFicition for that. The only fanon related articles that should belong here are the ones that have become internet sensations aka Metal Gear Awesome and Metal Gear Solid: Philanthropy. Wikis' purpose is to benefit readers by acting as an encyclopedia, a comprehensive written compendium that contains information on all branches of knowledge. The branches in topic is of course, is the Metal Gear franchise. This website is to give out information about official releases (games, books, OSTs), characters, weapons, etc. I'm sorry, as much as some of you don't mind it, I do, as it's simply avoiding the rules and regulations of a wiki page. Please remove them and re-upload them on a website where it's meant to belong. Solid-Boss (talk) 21:25, April 17, 2014 (UTC)

M3n747, I believe it is possible to neatly separate and file fanon content on wiki. Firstly, fanon content should not be in any category with canon content, so that example you came across was probably a mistake, which is easily corrected. Secondly, all fanon pages must be named "Fanon:[article name]". Thirdly, there can be a separate hub linking to the fanon content, such as on the Assassin's Creed Wiki, so that they are not simply lost in the ether. If people aren't interested in fanon content, it can be easily avoided, as no canon pages can link to fanon ones, and those who are interested can simply navigate to them through this hub page.

Having said all that, a separate wiki is a viable option, but I'd like to hear more comments from other users before we make any permanent decisions.