Talk:MechWarrior I/Strategy Guide

What to Do?

I just don't /like/ this sub-page article. Maybe it deserves its own article, maybe it needs to be incorporated into the main article. Where ever it goes, it needs a lot of work. Ideas? --Revanche ^{(talk|contribs)} 19:29, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

Its certainly a jumble. It needs proper introduction to what its talking about. The breaking down the guide per progress parts of the game. It does is listing the original authors of the materials. The material could be broken up per section of the game. I think it needs be revamped all together. Its who has time to go over a 20 year old PC game fix to Strategy guide? -- Wrangler 19:44, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

"Its who has time to go over a 20 year old PC game fix to Strategy guide?" Exactly! I'd say, who even reads it, but there is obviously still interest, since someone is adding to it. Since they won't register, makes me think they're not too keen on doing what is needed to fix it up...which leads me to think it should stay where it is, until someone cares to fix it up. --Revanche ^(talk|

contribs) 19:53, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

OK, fine, I registered! I'm sorry!

The problem is that Byter's FAQ is more or less copy pasted from some FAQS posted on gamefaqs and other sites, and I'm not sure if I have permission to edit his work and reproduce the modified version. Otherwise, I'd be quite glad to clean up the whole thing.

It might be 20 years old or so, but, hey, I'm into retro gaming. You should see me over at the Xcom boards, lol. Besides, this is the great granddaddy of the Mechwarrior series... not a title to sneeze at, to be sure! Jasonred79 10:09, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

Don't worry about it, I'm into retro gaming too. (If i can get my computer run them...)

If you can re-do the article if less confusing that would make it readable. Anyways, copyediting thing is touchie subject. IF the FAQ you got this stuff from was entirely from a online guide like [GameFAQs|http://www.gamefaqs.com] for example then I'd say you need re-think since those are copyrighted by person who made the guide themselves. If there just random people giving advice, then its not copyrighted. Least that from my understanding. If you do your own version of the guide to game can okay i believe. -- Wrangler 12:32, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

The problem is the first one is someone's published FAQ, the 2nd is someone else giving advice, and the third is my own stuff. Sigh. I don't know who put Byter's guide up there, but Byter's guide is published on Gamefaqs word for word the same as here, on the other hand he didn't make any requests not to modify it, and as you say it's like 20 years old, surely the guy won't mind after all this time, but... well... it's a published piece of work. I'm not sure about the etiquette, but I think that it might be rather rude to modify and republish his work without permission... and I don't think that it will be possible to track down the guy to get his permission.

Long story short, I think that we either have to write a new guide for this game, or just leave the whole thing the way it is. Jasonred79 12:47, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

First off, a personal apology to Jasonred79: I was working off the presumption that someone who is unregistered is a) doing a drive-by edit or data dump, or b) not likely to engage in conversation with the others Editors, or c) both. That was a generalization that obviously didn't apply to you. However, a personal thank you for registering, for it helps me put a face (or at least 'call sign') to your work.

I see that Wrangler brought up some similar points that I was thinking, namely does a copyright apply here? In any case, copyrights DO apply to a vast majority (i.e., everything other than fanon) of the source material utilized for this site. We get around this by re-writing the material and attributing the original source(s). For this article, because the original material does not fit into the standards of the site (i.e., no wikilinks, no proper sections, etc.), for it to be viable, it should be re-written.

I guess that is what I'm addressing: the material has business being here; its just not ready for prime-time. What I would suggest it needs is to be, first, sectioned into essays (Byter's guide, etc.) OR maybe re-writing it, guilt-free. See, the facts of his essays [Byter] are still applicable to the game and the game is what we're addressing here. The article is "Strategy for MechWarrior I", not "Byter's Guide to MechWarrior I". The difference being: whether Byter wrote about it or not, the strategy would still be useful in the game; if you wanted to write about Byter's essay, then the article would provide details about the essay and maybe Byter, and the influence his essay had on gamers, etc., etc. No, the focus for the article is on the strategy itself.

So...maybe combine all of the tips into one article, maybe broken down into sections (scene 1, scene 2, etc) or enemies (Boss1, Boss2), or any method where the material is organized into like sections. That kind of focus. Reference Byter's essay as a source (using the website).

We wouldn't copy word-for-word a page about Stefan Amaris from The Star League, and then make comments about how he was known to also do this or did that. We'd take all the sources and write a new article. As Wrangler would surely agree with me, I think we've identified BTW's resident MWI expert (ahem...you!) and would be glad to help you learn how to fit this new article into a format that would warrant its own top billing. Up for the challenge? --Revanche ^{(talk|contribs)} 14:33, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

Most FAQs at GameFAQs come with the disclaimer that they are not to be published anywhere else. At least, his permission should be given. Jasonred, since you seem familiar with his work, do you think you could contact the individual? --Scaletail 23:59, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

Scaletail, do you advocate getting his permission in order to have his essay posted here, as a prerequisite to using the essay as a source for the article or for having an article concerning MechWarrior I strategy?--Revanche ^{(talk|contribs)} 01:12, 24 July 2009 (UTC)

Contact Byter? ... he's got no name or email address listed, nothing, nada, and the game is, as noted several times previously, 20 years old, meaning the FAQ is also ancient, this is probably one of those FAQs that was written by someone when he was young, then he never looked at again. I dunno. Sounds like something requiring profesional tracking skills to hunt down. Personally, I think he's gone missing and won't be found unless he surfaces on his own.

Heh, basically rewrite the Mechwarrior I FAQ? ... Maybe... I'll probably just do it gradually, over time, poke and prod it over the space of a week or several. Jasonred79 05:59, 24 July 2009 (UTC)

That sounds fine, Jasonred79. No rush. Your improvements should allow the actual intent of the article to get top mainspace presences (rather than be deleted or allowed to remain only a subpage).--Revanche ^{(talk|contribs)} 15:35, 24 July 2009 (UTC)