Why is there no decent Wiki?

[TechbotAlpha]

Alright, relatively new player here and first time poster. TOR has proven to be a lot of fun, more than I thought it would to be honest.

 

That said, as a new player looking for info there is one thing that bugs the hell out of me;

Why the hell, after all the time this game has been out, is there no USEFUL wiki for the thing? The TOR wikia is next to useless, with huge chunks of info out of date or just outright missing. I'm trying to look up what skill levels various recipes unlock, how to get Augment slot components, where certain armour pieces drop and what level...it's stupidly hard because NOWHERE has all the info in one place in a sensible format.

 

What the hell gives? I've heard that the main Star Wars wiki is almost religiously filled with info, I take it that's not the same with TOR?

[Regentlord]

What happened is: A lot of groups of people saw a way to make profit off of SWTOR and so a bunch of wikis/dbs/etc all popped up at the same time. People contributed to different ones and then it caused none of them to be complete. Once people realized that none of them were going to be complete, everyone stopped contributing because there was no point.

[TechbotAlpha]

Right. Makes sense, I guess.

As someone new I have no real idea about the state of the community right now, so I guess the next question is; is there any chance of one, united Wiki actually ever being put together? Or is that like a snowballs chance in hell?

[Andryah]

What happened is: A lot of groups of people saw a way to make profit off of SWTOR and so a bunch of wikis/dbs/etc all popped up at the same time. People contributed to different ones and then it caused none of them to be complete. Once people realized that none of them were going to be complete, everyone stopped contributing because there was no point.

 

I think that sums it up pretty well.

 

Unfortunately, large MMO launches are generally seen by 3rd party information/fan sites as a revenue and profit opportunity. Which is fine.. except the pond gets over-stocked with bass, there is a lack of food (revenue), and they all die off. One would think Wiki's would be immune from this.. since they are truly open source collaborations.. but apparently not.

 

By the way.. now that the pond is empty of "bass"... there is actually room for a few enterprising people to fill an information needs gap here.

Edited July 17, 2013 by Andryah

[TechbotAlpha]

Wait...people run wikis for...profit?

I....it....th....

 

Ok, maybe I'm naive, or maybe I'm just lucky with the one other MMO I played before TOR I guess. That idea is entirely alien to me. I thought wikis were organised by players for players, with a big ol' pile of info in easy to read format. At least that was what the City of Heroes (May it Rest in Peace...) wiki was like, and the RP equivelant, the Handbook project.

 

Problem is, being a total newb, there's no way in hell I could start something like this. I never really had much to do with actual wiki running, even back then. It just seems a shame that a decent game is handicapped by all it's supposed information sites being...well...uninformative.

[Bomyne]

Problem is, being a total newb, there's no way in hell I could start something like this. I never really had much to do with actual wiki running, even back then. It just seems a shame that a decent game is handicapped by all it's supposed information sites being...well...uninformative.

 

My advice is to simply pick a wiki site you like, and contribute (In their format, of course) anything you may currently know about the game. All it takes is a few people like yourself to make those wikis less uninformative. Good luck.

[Andryah]

Wait...people run wikis for...profit?

 

They try.

 

But it goes so counter to the purpose of a wiki.. that it's absurd IMO.

[Regentlord]

Wait...people run wikis for...profit?

I....it....th....

 

Ok, maybe I'm naive, or maybe I'm just lucky with the one other MMO I played before TOR I guess. That idea is entirely alien to me. I thought wikis were organised by players for players, with a big ol' pile of info in easy to read format. At least that was what the City of Heroes (May it Rest in Peace...) wiki was like, and the RP equivelant, the Handbook project.

 

Problem is, being a total newb, there's no way in hell I could start something like this. I never really had much to do with actual wiki running, even back then. It just seems a shame that a decent game is handicapped by all it's supposed information sites being...well...uninformative.

 

Yes, wikis make massive profits. If you played WoW, do you remember when Wowiki changed to wowpedia? Yeah, that was over arguments about money.

[branmakmuffin]

Right. Makes sense, I guess.

As someone new I have no real idea about the state of the community right now, so I guess the next question is; is there any chance of one, united Wiki actually ever being put together? Or is that like a snowballs chance in hell?

Why don't you do it?

[AlexDougherty]

Wait...people run wikis for...profit?

I....it....th....

 

Ads mostly, if you have a successful wiki the money from adverts stacks up, you know those little boxs with an ad for the most upto date Tshirts, figurines, books, etc.

[TechbotAlpha]

Why don't you do it?

 

Well, 1) Who's going to listen to some rookie asking people to gather together and make a no-profit wiki with their own time and effort?

2) I'm still working out how the game works, figuring out the very basics work. I haven't even tried PvP yet (today I'll give it a go with my rookie characters, heh) let alone end-game content or anything past level 13/14. My starting knowledge base wouldn't be too good, heh.

[TechbotAlpha]

Ads mostly, if you have a successful wiki the money from adverts stacks up, you know those little boxs with an ad for the most upto date Tshirts, figurines, books, etc.

 

I can't say I do. It may be due to AdBlock, of course

[ImpactHound]

It sure would be nice if there was an addon that gathered data while you played, and dumped that into a database behind the scenes automatically, that people could install and ignore from day 1 that shares that info. BUT ALL ADDONS ARE EVIL APPARENTLY

[Lium]

I feel like the lack of a good wiki is indicative of the game itself.

[TechbotAlpha]

I feel like the lack of a good wiki is indicative of the game itself.

 

Not entirely fair, I'd say. Like I said, I came into TOR not expecting to like it at all, yet I was pleasantly surprised. Hell I did my first PVP fighting today and...these are words I never thought I'd type about MMO PVP: It was fun! Sure, it might get a bit more 'hardcore' at high levels, but, even without a real tutorial for it, it was kind of idiot proof. And fun. Our group leader messaged me afterwards to say well done, given I'd commented on how it was my first time.

 

Hell, it almsot deserves praise for being an EA/Bioware game and yet not being entirely made of suck

That said, yeah, the stance on 'NO MODS!' is both tyrannical and also counter-productive. When CityOf was still alive, there were a number of client side mods, from basic things like changing how the power icons looked and what font text was in to overlays for maps to add more info than was available normally. There was a neat little one that let you replace the loading screen/login screen with an image of your own choice, too.

 

Getting back on track, though, the best part were made by the Titan Network, a group of players that 'worked' for the playerbase; they pulled stats out of the game or ran tests when they couldn't do that, to keep the CoH wiki up to date. It always lagged a little behind the latest patch, but that was inevitable. What was *really* neat was a tool called Mids Hero Builder, which allowed you to plan your character from level 1-50 (the level cap), their power picks and how they were 'equipped' (different system to TOR and most other MMOs) I don't know if such a mini-program could work for TOR, but the lack of player-made for-player things is...well, baffling, really.

[clanjc]

I'm late to the game here, but I know I've personally invested a lot of time and effort into Wiki SWTOR (swtor.gamepedia.com). It's by no means complete, but there's a ton of information in there and shells waiting to be expanded on. I'd welcome anyone who wants to join me and help contribute. Even if you don't know all the ins and outs of wikis, just adding information in helps.

[Smuglebunny]

http://dulfy.net/

[clanjc]

http://dulfy.net/

 

Don't get me wrong, Dulfy is a great site and props to her for keeping it updated, but it's not a wiki.

[Heal-To-Full]

As a MMO player, would you rather spend an hour:

1) Improving a wiki article about your game?

2) Running another HM on your alt to buy him some derp?

[AshlaBoga]

Dulfy: Reputation, Operations, Cartel Market, Lightsaber Crystals, Speeders, Pets, Adaptive Gear, some Achievements.

 

SWTOR-SPY: Datacrons, Achievements, Codex, Missions.

 

TOR-Head: Items, Missions, titles.

 

If we combined added all the content on TOR-Head that SWTOR-SPY doesn't have (which is really only a couple of entries) then SWTOR-SPY could serve as the major site. Still, I think relying on just one site isn't a good idea. What happens if the owners is injured or loses interest?

[clanjc]

That's just one of the benefits of a wiki. The community owns it and can update it whenever they want to as opposed to waiting on a single or small group of authors. This makes the content dynamic as opposed to database or blog sites which are mostly static. Wikis also make it easier to link to relevant internal articles.

[branmakmuffin]

Why? Because people ask "Why is there no decent wiki?" rather than making a decent wiki.

[Bstr]

Dulfy: Reputation, Operations, Cartel Market, Lightsaber Crystals, Speeders, Pets, Adaptive Gear, some Achievements.

 

SWTOR-SPY: Datacrons, Achievements, Codex, Missions.

 

TOR-Head: Items, Missions, titles.

 

If we combined added all the content on TOR-Head that SWTOR-SPY doesn't have (which is really only a couple of entries) then SWTOR-SPY could serve as the major site. Still, I think relying on just one site isn't a good idea. What happens if the owners is injured or loses interest?

 

I can confirm what my fellow Jung-Ma player said. I would also add that SWTOR's Player Guides and Holonet are also great resources.

 

If I'm looking for info, my search usually takes the following form:

• If I am looking for Datacrons, I use my phone app. If that doesn't provide enough info, look at SWTOR Spy.
  
• If I am looking for CM items or info about Cantina events or the PTS or other news items, I go to Dulfy.
  
• If I am looking for class tips, there are great guides on the class forums here.
  
• For everything else, I go to TOR Head. For new players, I would suggest looking it up on the Holonet or About pages on this website first and if it is not there, go to TOR Head.
  

[ImpactHound]

Dead game, dead wikis*

 

*Take this with a grain of salt, because there should be a lot of asterisks, sub-asterisks and fine print explaining how there's valid counterpoints and reasons why it's not entirely or literally true, and to consider speaking with your doctor before deciding if this statement is right for you, and if you experience nausea, vomiting, dry mouth, waking skeletons, foamy diarrhea or extreme stunlock please seek emergency medical attention before attempting to heal-to-full before trying to make them pay.

 

**Salt is not a valid medical remedy for extreme stunlock but is now on sale for 50% off in the Cartel Market for one week only! Not eligible for unlock in the Collection tab and salt is available once per character per server per account, not available in all regions, i.e. Europe you're screwed.

[AlixMV]

I use wikia.com as my one-stop shopping and game wiki needs and it allows for user updates. If I had the time/inclination to put effort into it, swtor.wikia.com is where I'd be doing it.