Policy:Notability

BattleTech Information

Every bit of information that has to do with BattleTech warrants inclusion on the Sarna.net BTW. This includes, but is not limited to, real-world aspects of the BattleTech game and gaming universe such as people and firms who have contributed to BattleTech, as well as all aspects of the fictional setting including, but not limited to, fictional places, characters, items, technology or events.

Not all products pertinent to BattleTech are meant to contribute canon to the BattleTech universe (eg. official BattleTech publications that have expressly been declared as non-canon, or an otherwise unrelated spoof product). Consequently, their non-BattleTech content should be covered within the product article; such content is not normally considered notable enough for the purposes of Sarna.net BTW to warrant inclusion in the form of their own detailed article.

Real-world information is pertinent to BattleTech only if there is some deeper, direct connection. Examples of edge cases include the real-world Admiral Takeo Kurita (whose fictional descendands in BattleTech form House Kurita and who was mentioned in Experimental Technical Readout: 1945), or the seppuku ritual (which has no intrinsic connection to BattleTech, but does feature prominently in the fictional setting).

While it is understood and appreciated that some aspects of the BattleTech universe share similarities with other genres (especially science fiction), Sarna.net BTW is not the place to provide comparisons or trivial references to other non-BattleTech storylines. An example of this would be an entry with a planet that may share the name with a noted planet in the Star Trek or Star Wars universes; the information would not be relevant to the in-character article of the BattleTech subject. (An acceptable exception to this policy would be an instance where the real-world background of a BattleTech subject was the direct and referenced result (or acknowledgment) of some external subject, such as Buckaroo Banzai is with Team Banzai.)

Common Circumstances

Events

BattleTechWiki strives to cover BattleTech to the level of trivia, but it is not a primary news outlet. Routine announcements and statements from license-holders and writers contribute to the wiki, but BattleTechWiki is not the place for continuous coverage of momentary rumors and fandom controversies.

Military Units

When it comes to military organization, the BattleTech setting emphasizes the regiment as the largest regular field formation. Brigades and larger formations exist in BattleTech, but are typically administrative in nature and often defined by their constituent regiments. Similarly, there are few if any independent military formations (outside of mercenary units) smaller than a regiment that have no parent formation.

For the purpose of Sarna.net BTW, this means that the core article about a given military formation will usually be about a regiment (or otherwise, a Cluster under Clan doctrine or a Level IV under ComStar/Word of Blake doctrine), with its constituent battalions, companies and lances (or other sub-units) listed in the regiment article but not usually given their own articles. Exceptions are possible for particularly noteworthy sub-units.
Conversely, formations larger than regimental size should also have their own articles, but would break down their sub-units only to the regimental level (with links to all sub-units listed).

Mercenary units, by contrast, should be covered in a single article by default, regardless of their size, though for units larger than a regiment, individual articles should be created for each regiment either as a redirect to the main unit article or as a more detailed article on the regiment in question if sufficient information is available.

Notable 'Mechs and Pilots

Going back to the original Technical Readout: 3025, it has been long-standing BattleTech tradition to name individual notable pilots or units for a given unit in Technical Readouts. This was carried over to Sarna.net BTW in the form of individual categories for notable pilots of each type of 'Mech, aerospace fighter, or other combat vehicle, and a separate category for notable individual 'Mechs.

Though edge cases are thinkable, a character should only be categorised as a notable pilot for one single type of 'Mech (or aerospace fighter or other combat vehicle). A notable character is not automatically a notable pilot for every machine they have piloted. Instead, a pilot is notable if either expressly mentioned as such in a source (typically, a Technical Readout), or otherwise if the pilot is both a prominent character in BattleTech fiction and also strongly associated with the vehicle in question. For example, Kai Allard-Liao could be considered a notable Centurion pilot because he was himself famous and also piloted the famous Yen-Lo-Wang which is a notable 'Mech in its own right; but he is not a notable Hatchetman pilot even though he happened to pilot a Hatchetman in what was probably his most famous single action.

Similarly, individual 'Mechs, aerospace fighters and other vehicles are considered notable if expressly mentioned as such or otherwise if they have a distinct history or identity.