BattleTechWiki talk:Project BattleMechs

This article is within the scope of the Project BattleMechs, a collaborative effort to improve BattleTechWiki's coverage of BattleMechs. If you would like to participate, you can visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks.

Archive

Unseen

How do we feel about putting up Unseen 'Mech images? I personally think it's a very bad idea considering the Harmony Gold lawsuit, but these are also rare images that are impossible to find unless you have the original TROs. Comments? --Scaletail 15:26, 5 May 2007 (CDT)

A little late. I have alreay scanned and put in most of the unseen images. Anyay in thier original form that is what the 'MEchs did look lie and it is still connocaly (sp?) correct to use those images. CJKeys 00:47, 19 May 2007 (CDT)

The Project Phoenix images can be uploaded over them. That's not a major issue and should only take a couple of hours at most. Yes, I agree with you that this is what those 'Mechs looked like in 3025, but they look different in 3067. Personally, I like having the Unseen images up there because it gives newcomers to the game the ability to see them and know what those of us who have been around longer are talking about. My only concern is about the legality of post those same images. --Scaletail 12:26, 19 May 2007 (CDT)

As far as I know our use of them is fair use as we are using them as examples of the 'Mechs as they were originally done and not for profit. Aditionaly there is no risk to Fanpro or InResMedia as we are not afiliated with Fanpro, InResMedia, or with WizKids. If we need to update notes on each of the images it is not that hard and we can do that but we do not need to delete them from the pages of this project as their use here does meet the standards for fair use. CJKeys 13:56, 19 May 2007 (CDT)

Works for me! --Scaletail 15:51, 19 May 2007 (CDT)

Candidates

Sorry to put myself into this talk, but I like to know how can I candidate myself to the Project BattleMech? I am the guy who made the inicial Vulture page, and I think I can do something useful in this project.

Nothing special is required, just add your name to the group as indicated at the top of the page. On a related note, you can sign your talk posts by typing four tildes at the end of it. --Scaletail 14:54, 18 May 2007 (CDT)

Yeah, just come on board and welcome aboard.CJKeys 23:47, 18 May 2007 (CDT)

Inner Sphere Mechs are Done

After working on this for around seven months I am proud to announce that all of the mainstream Inner Sphere 'Mechs that have a TRO entry are finished. I know as the game goes on this will be a continuing process but now we are oficially ahead of the curve on the Inner Sphere 'Mechs and Im sure the Clan 'MEchs wont take too long. The Solaris VII 'Mechs are a creature unto themselves and once I actually buy Map Pack Solaris VII I will start working on those as I have already scanned images for them. I would like to congratulate the whole team. Without everyone here we woudlnt have ever gotten this far. So dont be suprised if you also get this on each of your discussion pages. CJKeys 00:52, 19 May 2007 (CDT)

Famous Pilots

How about a section--along with "description," etc.--entitled "notable pilots?" There, we could include info on famous (or infamous) MechWarriors. Scaletail 15:03, 8 June 2007 (CDT)

I can agree with that. I dont want us to end up just copyign the notabel pilots out of the tros though. I woudl think pilots like Phelan Kell, Jamie Wolf, Victor Stiener Davion, etc. Those who are main storyline charachters who are big wigs and woudl be known throughotu the Inner Sphere, not just someone that is featuerd n a book and pilots a wraith if you knwo what I mean. CJKeys 22:45, 8 June 2007 (CDT)

I definitely would not want to just copy the featured pilots out of the Uprgrade TROs. Most of them are not notable at all. I think any character that is notable enough to warrant a article devoted to them would also be worthy of being noted as a famous pilot (and I mean a real article like Peter S-D, not a one line blurb like Nonda Toolipi). I think that the 'Mechs that were used by Solaris champions can also be noted. Scaletail 08:35, 10 June 2007 (CDT)

Other Technical Information

Hey guys. I've noticed the great work that's gone on with the 'Mech stuff, but I noticed that the more 'technical' details (like number of heat sinks, in particular) seems to be missing on the 'Mechs. Was it a conscious decision to not include that information? I noticed the same thing with the entries in the MechWikia pages as well. The reason I mention it is that while we say things like "On the Panther 10K2 variant, the heat sinks were swapped out with double-strength heat sinks...", but that doesn't tell someone how many beyond the basic 10 were double-strength. This is just one example of information that might be nice to add. Just my $0.02. :) Bdevoe 08:07, 6 August 2007 (CDT)

I signed on to the Project kinda late, but I believe it was never the intention to provide enough information to be able to fill in a record sheet (for that, you can go to chaosmarch.com). Rather, the project focused more on the description, aiming for a technical readout-like write-up. CJ can correct me on whatever is wrong, but that is my assumption. Scaletail 10:18, 6 August 2007 (CDT)

Scaletail is more less spot on. The Sarna wiki entires, and the ones I worked on previously in Mechwikia, are intended as a general TRO like description of the 'Mechs that can give the reader a good idea abotu the 'Mech. As far as sites that provide carbon copies of the record sheet info there are a few that already do that. CJKeys 00:59, 7 August 2007 (CDT)

That sounds fine and I didn't expect that an attempt would be made to provide the entire record sheet. You're right in that there are plenty of sites/applications that do that already. Maybe there's just two things I'm thinking about - weapon locations and the number of heat sinks. Some weapons replace existing limbs (like the MLaser on the Valkyrie) and some systems are in addition to limbs/hands (like the PPC on the Panther, although that's not "droppable"). It could simply be mentioned in the Armaments section. I do think the addition of heat sinks to the InfoBox would be nice, though. You're not providing location of the heat sinks, but it would give someone with some similarity with the game the ability to evaluate some of the variant pros/cons. Again, just my $0.02. :) Bdevoe 11:24, 7 August 2007 (CDT)

I understand what you're saying, and I don't see how more information can really be a bad thing. I mean, if we're going to put up images of the Unseen, we can post technical data. I think descriptions like "giving the 'Mech heat problems" should give you a general idea of the heat sink status of any given design. In my opinion, if we are aiming for a description of the 'Mech, that should be sufficient as the exact number of heat sinks is not vitally important to a 'Mech compared to its weapons. For that matter, I'm not sure the exact tonnage devoted to armor is vital, but the information is provided on most designs. I guess I'm sort of ambivalent about it. If you want to do the work, I won't stand in your way, but it's quite low on my list of things to do. Scaletail 16:40, 7 August 2007 (CDT)

*laugh* Fair enough. What I propose is that we add heat sinks to the info box. We're missing a bunch of other things as well - targeting system, communication systems, etc., but I think heat sinks as a field by itself would be fine. If CJKeys agrees to that, I'll make the adjustments to the InfoBox and start adding that data. I only have the 3025 and 3050 TROs, so anything beyond the 'Mechs in those would have to be added by someone else. For 'Mechs in those TROs, though, I would commit to adding that information myself. Thoughts? Bdevoe 19:55, 7 August 2007 (CDT)

Change format?

Let me first congratulate you folks on what you have achieved here! This said, I suggest the TRO format be abandoned, or at least significantly improved, because you (we) can do better than that. To correctly catalogue all BattleMechs I suggest a template along these lines (the same could in fact be used for any vehicle, fighter or spaceship):

• Generic Chassis information

(Very general description of the type: Chassis code (e.g. WSP for all Wasp variants), date of creation, known factories/producers, "core" variant, special stuff like OmniMech, command module, difficult to maintain, etc.), history, known users and proliferation on a scale from 0 (extinct/very rare) to 5 (common), special boardgame rules pertaining to the model (like flipping arms on Rifleman or piloting penalty on the Javelin), unseen

• Variants
  • sort variants by origin: official alternate model by original manufacturer, house modification, inofficial typical field modification
    • For each single variant: Exact designation, rundown of tech base, configuration, known production centers, reasons for the variant/modification, who invented the variant; descriptive armament text
    • Link to IIC version, if applicable (which should be treated as a different 'Mech, not a variant)

Also, the Chassis code (i.e. WSP for Wasp) should redirect to the BattleMech entry. Frabby 02:48, 8 August 2007 (CDT)