Campaign Wiki Update: July 16, 2020

[pbemguy]

The campaign wiki project is moving along even better than I had hoped. I spoke to Jason and he is considering hosting the wiki at herogames.com. He made no promises, and he never said that he would, but my spirits are buoyed that he's looking at the idea.

 

Right off the bat, I want to reiterate that this is not some private little club: literally anyone reading this sentence will have the right/authority to edit the wiki. You don't need to ask for permission. It's just something all of us are doing, whether you're at 9,000 posts or 2 posts.

 

I address the "character art" dilemma near the end of this post.

 

IndianaJoe3 hosted a poll called "When did superpowers occur?" in order to determine the history of superpowers in the campaign. I apologize if I am overstepping, but I believe Scott Ruggels summed it up nicely:

 

Quote

...superpowers may have always been with us, in fiction, but since Champions focuses on comic book tropes and gaming, then for the Wikia to be useful for most comics gaming fans, then, superpowers should be common public knowledge from 1938, with nods to limited powers from earlier years like, The Shadow, Doc Savage, and the like.

 

With regards to character art: I have made contact with the guy who developed the Fabrica de Herois. He hasn't answered me directly on whether we can use the images in a print version. But...I feel like he shouldn't have to answer us. My position is this: We can totally use the images in the wiki itself. If we decide to publish something connected to the wiki, I believe we should hire an artist or artists to draw a new version, and not include the Fabrica images at all. (Hiring artists could be funded through Kickstarter etc.) The reason I say this is, I feel like that's what--reading between the lines--the Fabrica guy has been telling me: the Fabrica software is to design heroes, but is not meant to replace artists. And trust me, it's a long story, but I have worked with artists many times and having the character already designed in Fabrica will make those interactions a million times more pleasurable for everyone!

 

Thoughts? Ideas?

 

I am taking the position of Speaker-For-The-Wiki. If anyone feels I am wrong, just say so. I want the wiki to move forward. I feel my role is to make sure everything is going smoothly and that there is as much consensus as possible.

 

 

[steriaca]

What can I say but I'm happy about this project. 

 

And if hosting this project here becomes problematic, we can always make an Amino for it. Call it Champions Wiki Amino or something like that.

[archer]

5 hours ago, pbemguy said:

Right off the bat, I want to reiterate that this is not some private little club: literally anyone reading this sentence will have the right/authority to edit the wiki. You don't need to ask for permission.

 

 

 

 

Wikipedia lets people edit the wiki but the previous version of the wiki are automatically saved in wiki history files so that you can see the changes and reference previous versions easily if needed.

 

I'm not sure how the mechanics of the wiki project are going to work but these forums don't seem to have that "automatically saving the history" functionality. We could in theory have some one person re-write the 1960's, for example, and accidentally or deliberately erase a couple of hundred hours of work from dozens of contributors.

 

Maybe we should start by allowing people to add and let them propose what should be taken out or re-written in order to fit in with the existing reality rather than let anyone edit out anything or everything?

 

[pbemguy]

18 minutes ago, archer said:

 

Wikipedia lets people edit the wiki but the previous version of the wiki are automatically saved in wiki history files so that you can see the changes and reference previous versions easily if needed.

 

I'm not sure how the mechanics of the wiki project are going to work but these forums don't seem to have that "automatically saving the history" functionality. We could in theory have some one person re-write the 1960's, for example, and accidentally or deliberately erase a couple of hundred hours of work from dozens of contributors.

 

Maybe we should start by allowing people to add and let them propose what should be taken out or re-written in order to fit in with the existing reality rather than let anyone edit out anything or everything?

 

 

You're 100% right; I hear what you're saying. We're working on actually adding a real wiki to herogames.com -- one that functions like Wikipedia, with a backup. For now we are just laying out the preliminary framework I guess you'd call it, setting the general parameters of the campaign world. 

 

We also have to set the specifics of the IP license, which is next on  my list of things to do.

[archer]

2 hours ago, pbemguy said:

 

You're 100% right; I hear what you're saying. We're working on actually adding a real wiki to herogames.com -- one that functions like Wikipedia, with a backup. For now we are just laying out the preliminary framework I guess you'd call it, setting the general parameters of the campaign world. 

 

 

 

That's awesome!

[steriaca]

Generally put, the world of the Wiki must...

 

...be able to support any origin at all.

 

...be able to support any power source at all.

 

...shouldn't be full of already established comic superheroes and supervillains with the serial number filed off. A small number of them is ok. Just not every single character. 

[steriaca]

Another thing about the Wiki. A potential GM should be able to take things he likes from the Wiki without needing to use everything in the Wiki. Some GMs are looking for street level goons. Others are looking for Darkseid level terrors. The Wiki should be able to supply and support the entire spectrum.