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Over time, policies and guidelines have developed which reflect the experience of thousands of editors who are constantly learning and refining how to create balanced, well-sourced, informative articles, and how to work with others and resolve conflict when it arises. These rules are principles, not laws, on Gamepedia. Policies and guidelines exist only as rough approximations of their underlying principles. They are not intended to provide an exact or complete definition of the principles in all circumstances. They must be understood in context, using some sense and discretion. Nevertheless there are certain things that Gamepedia is not and common mistakes that should be avoided.
Core content policies[]
Neutral point of view[]
Maintaining a neutral point of view (NPOV) is a key principle of Gamepedia. This means that we accept all the significant viewpoints on an issue. Instead of simply stating one perspective, we try to present all relevant viewpoints without judging them. Our aim is to be informative, not persuasive.
It is okay to state opinions in articles, but they should be presented as opinions, not as fact. It is a good idea to attribute these opinions, for example "Supporters of this say that..." or "Notable commentator X believes that..."
Verifiability[]
Gamepedia requires verifiable content, which means that you may only write what reliable sources have said about topics. You must cite sources for any information you contribute that is controversial or likely to be challenged, preferably by adding a footnote, as discussed in the "Citing Sources" page of this tutorial. Citations help our readers to verify what you have written and to find more information.
If any websites would be of particular interest to a reader of an article, they should be listed and linked to in an "External links" section.
Style manual[]
The manual of style, sometimes known as a style guide, documents Gamepedia's house style. Its goal is to make using Gamepedia easier and more intuitive by promoting clarity and cohesion while helping editors write articles with consistent and precise language, layout, and formatting. Style and formatting should be consistent within an article, though not necessarily throughout Gamepedia. Where more than one style is acceptable, editors should not change an article from one of those styles to another without a good reason. Some Gamepedia wikis have their own Manual of Style. In these cases, the wiki's style should be used instead.
Conduct[]
Gamepedia encourages an atmosphere of friendliness and openness. Of course, in practice there are sometimes disagreements and even an occasional heated argument, but members of the community are expected to behave in a generally civil manner.
The most important thing to keep in mind is that you should always assume good faith on the part of other editors. Do not assume that someone is acting out of spite or malice. If someone does something that upsets you, leave a polite message on the relevant article's talk page or on the user's talk page, and ask why. You may find that you have avoided a misunderstanding and saved yourself some embarrassment.
Copyrights[]
As a general rule, do not copy and paste text from other sources. Doing so usually constitutes both a copyright violation and plagiarism. If a work does not have a copyright notice, assume it to be under copyright-protection. Brief quotations of copyrighted text may be used to illustrate a point, establish context, or attribute a point of view or idea and should be cited. For all media uploads, please make sure to put up the appropriate Copyright notice, which you can find in our Copyright templates. Since most images come from video games, the most commonly used notice probably is {{Copyright Game}}.
National varieties of English[]
Gamepedia does not generally prefer any particular standard variety of English (U.S. spelling vs. British spelling, for example) over another. Try to apply the principles listed below when editing:
- Do not edit a page simply to "correct" a spelling that is correct in another standard form of English, unless it violates the principles listed here.
- If the subject of an article appears in game with a certain spelling, use the in-game spelling.
- If the subject of an article is not strongly related to any particular country, the original contributor's usage should be followed, and usage should be consistent throughout the article.