Re: SPELLJAMMER wiki? - RFC

OK. As the topic of a Spelljammer Wiki has come up several times, I have 
decided to start one.

I've made an application to a company called Wikia who give out free wikis 
to anyone who can get enough support for a subject.

As someone else said (I think it was Paul) a wiki will take a *long* time to 
create, however I think that if we limit it to canon material from official 
sources it is a project that will have a finite size. Take a look at 
Dragonlance Lexicon (from Dragonlance Nexus):
http://www.dlnexus.com/lexicon/

This is the sort of thing I'd like to create for Spelljammer. Notice that 
Dragonlance Lexicon is all about indexing the background material ("fluff") 
and doesn't contain rules ("crunch"). That is the way that I'd like to go. 
Beyond the Moons already provides us with enough crunch. If people want 
crunchy bits they can add links to BtM pages at the bottom of wiki pages 
(that is what the external links section of a wiki is for) - and if BtM 
doesn't have a page yet, then they can write one and send it in. ;-)

Someone recently suggested collecting the NPCs of Spelljammer into a central 
resource and I'd like to invite all the people who were interested in *that* 
to get onboard the wiki-wagon and help fill up the category of "Spelljammer 
NPCs". A wiki will allow us to update this sort of information at our own 
pace and we won't need to collate things offline or keep bugging Static to 
do updates. (That wouldn't stop anyone from collating information from a 
completed category and writing a BtM article. It would just make it easier 
for people to collaborate on unfinished research without loosing things. I'm 
hoping that a canon resource will help people writing fan material or doing 
conversions to avoid making continuity errors when they create new content. 
So this would be a project that would work *with* Beyond the Moons rather 
than against it.)

I need people to get onboard if they want this to happen. I can't do this 
all by myself. Wikia suggest that I need 20 people to start a wiki. I'll be 
looking for accuracy and correct *citation* rather than speed. I know that 
you are not all "experts" but people can also contribute by fixing typos, 
reverting vandalism, adding categories or even writing in the talk page if 
you see a problem with an article. I might also need some "copyleft" artwork 
done later on (we could share any copyleft artwork with Beyond the Moons and 
anyone else who wants it).

(For issues of conflict - like the location of the Rock of Bral - I suggest 
that we give people all of the information from a neutral point of view 
(rather than saying the FR guy is wrong) and let them make up their own 
mind. However, we can decide on this sort of policy if/when I get approval 
for the wiki.)

If you are interested in joining this project then you can make a comment in 
Wikia's forum:
http://www.wikia.com/index.php?title=Forum:Spelljammer
Or write on my Wikia user page:
http://www.wikia.com/wiki/User_talk:David_Shepheard#Spelljammer_Wiki

Please also feel free to ask any questions here. Or contact me offlist if 
you are shy. ;-)

David "Big Mac" Shepheard
Virtual Eclipse Role Playing Club
http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/virtualeclipselrp/links/d20_system_001071937434/Spelljammer_001071430476
http://www32.brinkster.com/virtualeclipse/

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Shepheard" <david_shepheard@???????.com>
To: <SPELLJAMMER-L@??????.???????.com>
Sent: Sunday, March 25, 2007 5:51 AM
Subject: Re: [SPELLJAMMER] SPELLJAMMER wiki?


> Actually Jorgen, the two links you mention are not Spelljammer wikis. They
> are just Spelljammer pages on *other* wikis.

<snip>

> A Spelljammer wiki would be an entire wiki where *every* article on the 
> wiki
> has some sort of connection to the Spelljammer Campaign Setting. It would 
> be
> a good place for us to create articles about everything in the SJCS.
> Citations in the articles would enable anyone reading them to find the
> original source material.

<snip>

> David "Big Mac" Shepheard
> Virtual Eclipse Role Playing Club
> http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/virtualeclipselrp/links/d20_system_001071937434/Spelljammer_001071430476
> http://www32.brinkster.com/virtualeclipse/
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Jorgen Fagerquist" <jfagerquist@?????????.net>
> Sent: Saturday, March 24, 2007 9:25 PM
> Subject: Re: [SPELLJAMMER] SPELLJAMMER wiki?
>
>>Apparently, there is one ready to be expanded at
>>http://dnd.wikia.com/wiki/Spelljammer as well as further development at
>>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spelljammer.  Unless there are any legal
>>issues to be concerned, just make sure the WOTC gets referenced and their
>>hyperlink >things should be cool. We all can create an account and start
>>editing immediately.
>
>>Sincerely,
>>Jörgen Fägerquist
>>aka Father Ginsbork
>
> ********************************************************************
> The D&D Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd
> The Spelljammer Homepage: http://www.spelljammer.org
> To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@??????.???????.com
> with UNSUB SPELLJAMMER-L in the body of the message.
>