Talk:Main Page

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See the following link for this page's archives. All conversations on this page are considered to be closed. If you wish to leave a reply to any of those topics, please leave your comment on the current page. Archives: 08/25/06-10/19/12

Namco Tales Series Forums

The Namco Tales Series Forums are dead from some time from what I know, so it's only fitting to remove that link.—Kaimi (999,999 CP/5 TP) ∙ 21:10, July 22, 2014 (UTC)

I was waiting, holding out with great hope for Namdai to realize that they accidentally the entire Tales forums. Namdai had always treated the English community as if it does not exist, not just by ignoring the idea of localizing games until Vesperia/DotNW got them back into the habit, but by abandoning the forums and letting us work things out on our own ever since Peter Garza left as the localization director of Namco Hometek after Radiant Mythology. To think that they once even thanked us in the credits of Tales of the Abyss. You're right though, it's probably gone forever since it's been almost a year by now that the server was taken offline, along with 3 or 4 of the official English websites for different localized games. Even Tales Brigade is gone, and the rather informative TalesRPG site was replaced with a generic advertisement for Xillia while deleting all of the pages of interest. All that we have left are fan sites like Abyssal Chronicles and the reserve forums, which isn't exactly public about itself.

Shizune Hakamichi (talk) 00:40, July 23, 2014 (UTC)

Ideas for new home page?

It's bland and outdated. I think it needs a rework with new colors and maybe some images. I also think it needs to be better organized. Any ideas?

Arosia (talk) 07:18, August 24, 2014 (UTC)

Yes it's bland, but none of us are adept as graphical artists so I don't think it will ever be changed without more substantial effort to make such changes. I already reformatted the page from what it was originally back in 2007, an ugly table of game names listed into columns full of word wrapping. The existing format is the best I could do. Surely there are many others who can do better, but whatevs, this was designed for the Monaco skin anyway. We all know what happened to that.

Also, take note that some of the above discussions that you edited are actually more confusing now. You combined some lines that were meant as quotations, and then you removed the formatting like italics which indicated that they were quotations. I also was going for parallelism when I put each of those sentences on a separate line. As much as possible, I like to avoid editing others' comments from past discussions as long as they are not something that need moderation (mostly just vandalism/spam). For my own past comments, I don't really care, but please take care of altering or combining others' statements in a way that was not originally intended. (Also, I'm rather amused since I did consider NariDan X to be a World game, which it is indeed, as far as Teichan was concerned back in the previous layout of that website with the fancy scrolling logos using gratuitous Flash objects.)

Shizune Hakamichi (talk) 16:09, August 24, 2014 (UTC)

When I condensed it, I didn't even realize it was your comment. I'll fix it now and add your username to the end. As for the other comments, I only adjusted the headers so that each conversation is more distinguishable. Typically I don't condense comments or alter them in any way unless it's some form of Winxfan spam on my talk page or something. As for the home page, is there at least a way to adjust the color scheme? Also, I recall my adding some games to the lists, but I'm not sure if I added all of them - or if they're in the correct order, for that matter. Would you double check this, please?

Arosia (talk) 18:19, August 24, 2014 (UTC)

Ahhhhh no, that particular comment wasn't mine. The part that was quoted was from my earlier post under the same header. As for colors, it has to be done manually by changing the hex codes on the page's source code itself.

Shizune Hakamichi (talk) 21:57, August 24, 2014 (UTC)

What I changed and why

I'm going to give a list of my most recent changes to the main page, as well as a series of reasons why I made these changes.

• Archives - I have archived 30 conversations dating from 2006 to 2012 for obvious reasons. They're old, and they were taking up far too much space on this page. They can easily be accessed through the archives template. All current conversations on this page are from this year, so it worked out pretty well.

• Images - I have added six images to the main page for the sake of aestheticism. The first three I added are generic scenery images from the Tales of Symphonia opening sequence, obviously depicting Aselia itself. This also contributes to this wiki's natural theme. The other three images I added are the Great Tree for the "Contributing" section, referencing the fact that if you nurture something, it will grow; one of the Radiant Mythology 2 ending sequence images for the "Community" section, depicting a variety of characters from different games (a "community" of sorts); and a striking image from the Tales of Phantasia opening sequence for the "External Links" section.

• Condensing - I condensed some information here and there because it didn't look appealing spread out.

• Removal - I removed some information, including the MonoBook reference and the red links.
  • I removed the MonoBook reference because it's simply not true in every case. Additionally, we shouldn't be persuading users to switch to a particular preference when two exist, both of which are supported on this wiki and every other. Likewise, our wiki should ensure that all pages appear acceptable in both preferences. We cannot change this, so we must adapt to it. I can assure you that the majority of pages appear just fine in both preferences. I know because I check.
  • In regard to the red links, they have officially become a problem. I'm not saying they're a problem anywhere on the site, but they are most certainly a problem on the main page. They debilitate the image of our wiki, especially when there are so many of them and growing. Also, you may have noticed that the "Other Escort Titles" section was being stretched excessively, causing the page to appear heavily unbalanced, and I still believe there were some missing. No one keeps up with them anymore, and I refuse to keep adding them, particularly when it's difficult for me to determine their release dates and ensure they're in the proper order. There is virtually no information on the Internet for some of these titles for a user to create a page for them even if he or she wanted to. Obscure titles like Kamenin Merchant! and Tales of the Town will probably never have pages, and that's just a fact. When pages are, in fact, created for these removed titles, then and only then may they be re-added to the main page. Until then, I don't mind if they are listed somewhere else or in an alternative fashion.

This is my first big step in redesigning the main page. If you have any feedback, whether it be comments, questions, or concerns, please post them here.

Arosia (talk) 21:28, September 13, 2014 (UTC)

I love the changes! Makes the Wiki look refreshing! I'm thinking about making some articles, but first I need to work on them in my sandbox if they gonna stay: you Aselian folks doesn't seem to like half-baked cookies in your cafeterias. ;P Is there anything notable that needs to be worked on, like recurring features or terms for individual games (e.g. "Gald", "Spyrix", "Lance of Kresnik", "Kresnik", "Linked Arte", "Spirit Arte" or something similar, "Foselos"; only played ToGf anf ToX)?—Kaimi (999,999 CP/5 TP) ∙ 21:57, September 14, 2014 (UTC)

I must say you really did a great job by redesigning the main page. The only thing I suggest is to include images from other games, such as Xillia, Legendia, Abyss, etc, not just Symphonia. If we could get a personalized background for the wikia that would be great, although that's a different topic. --Juan Ma (talk) 22:08, September 14, 2014 (UTC)

I can edit pictures well. That's the only thing I don't suck at. I used to do that a lot before I joined here. Maybe the background should be designed on Abyss. What do you think?

Riku the Bloody (Talk) 22:22, September 14, 2014 (UTC)

Kaimi: All of those terms and features you listed lack pages, so yes, if you were to create pages, those would be a good start. Keep in mind that they are not priorities, however, and if they are created, they must be done so in a manner that warrants their creation. I'm not as strict as Mayu when it comes to page creation. As long as the page has a decent amount of well-written information, I see it only as an improvement to the wiki. In fact, I'll be creating Rebirth articles soon.

Juan Ma: This was just a beginning experiment in terms of a bigger project. I would like to see more added to the main page, but it still needs to be clean and organized. I would also like a personalized background, but I don't have the technical knowledge to create such at this time, which leads me to...

Kikonu: While I find it impressive that you consider yourself to suck at everything but editing pictures, I don't know what you would come up with, and if it's something that's in the least bit atrocious, I will revert it immediately. I would prefer to not restrict the background to a single game's characters.

Arosia (talk) 23:13, September 14, 2014 (UTC)

Then you tell me what images to use, and I will try my best to use them. I could have a picture where all the protagonist are shown in their status images. But if I fail at this, I really am a failure. So I won't mess up.

Riku the Bloody (Talk) 23:51, September 14, 2014 (UTC)

Edit: Updated our logo to Mieu instead of Raine.

Arosia (talk) 01:48, September 15, 2014 (UTC)

I agree that the red links made the main page look incomplete, but I always felt that it simply reflects the incomplete status of this wiki as it is due to how the many stubs basically offer little actual info. I don't like the red links either, naturally, and I'll concede with removing them until someone with enough knowledge can create the pages in a proper way. As in, Kikonu get out. The images, shrug. I'm not a page designer and I was going for a somewhat minimalist page design without graphics and icons to account for slower net connections, but I suppose it's not as much of a problem nowadays as it was when I last updated the main page layout years ago under the Monaco skin.

I insisted on Monobook because I will never support Wikia New Look/Oasis as a skin, and we should have been one of the wiki sites that left the Wikia network, alongside SEIWA and Wowpedia and Touhou Wiki had it not been for hiccups with communication with our intended server provider, and one of Wikia's bullshit requirements which would (and still does) split and confuse the wiki editing community for each site, leaving people confused as to which one is the "real" wiki site with the latest and most correct information. (Hint: not the Wikia versions of the sites I mentioned.) The Monobook message was added with this intention in mind, though it's probably void and useless by now since everyone who cares about the issue already uses Monobook or forgot that it exists. Again, RIP Monaco skin.

Shizune Hakamichi (talk) 02:13, September 15, 2014 (UTC)

I noticed that the Main Page was protected and prevents lower-level users to modify it. Out of curiosity, is the Main Page the only page on Aselia that has that level of protection? --Juan Ma (talk) 02:26, September 15, 2014 (UTC)

Mayu: I will attempt work on those missing game pages when I have the time. It's just difficult when the game is unlocalized, Escort, and nothing I've played or even thought of playing. Information on the Internet for such things can be scarce, especially when I can't read Japanese.

Juan Ma: Yes, the main page is the only page on this wiki that has that level of protection, and it's because I just made it that way. If you look around at other wikis, you'll see that they do the same for their main pages. It's the most efficient way to protect it, and no one should be tinkering around with it anyway.

Arosia (talk) 03:58, September 15, 2014 (UTC)

@Arosia: Should I make the background for the recent game, Tales of Xillia 2, or all the games combined. I will only used the status images either way. If you decide to not let me do it, I wont.

Riku the Bloody (Talk) 11:53, September 15, 2014 (UTC)

Tales of Berseria

Please add Tales of Berseria under the "Mothership Titles". This will make it sixteen titles so 4 columns, 4 rows format to look aesthetically?—Kaimi (999,999 CP/5 TP) ∙ 13:52, June 6, 2015 (UTC)

Official Sites

It appears there are some official site for the series:

• The official Tales of Blog
• Tales Of | Official Website
• http://www.talesofgame.com/en/community-1/ Community | Tales Of]

I'm pretty sure we could link to them on the main page.—Kaimi (999,999 CP/5 TP) ∙ 21:39, June 16, 2015 (UTC)

Priorities

Okay so, I wanted to point out some things that may be obvious to some but not all. It's been a while since we addressed priorities on this wiki, mainly because we had so many that it made no sense to distinguish a select few. Since the wiki has been coming along nicely, I wanted to stress three areas that have not kept up with the rest of the wiki's progress:

• Arte pages
• Data pages
• Location pages

Now, I'm not saying these areas are lacking because I realize we have plenty of content in all three, but comparatively, they're falling behind. I've recently started browsing through arte list pages and noticing a series of red links. For the characters with whom I'm more familiar, I've gone ahead and tackled those arte pages. I did so with Chelsea Torn, Reala, Annie Barrs, and Judith, to name a few. It wasn't that difficult because I was referring to their other arte lists and arte exhibition videos on YouTube. Anyway, sometimes these things get overlooked or forgotten about; other times, a new game in the series dumps a ton of new artes on us, like with ToZ. It's understandable, but it's just a concern of mine that I'd like to point out since arte pages are relatively easy to create.

As for data pages, it's like a hit and miss. We have lists of things I wouldn't think we'd have, and then we're lacking lists of things I find it strange that no one has ever bothered creating. You can view this page to gain a general idea of what we have and what we don't. You'll see that arte list pages are pretty comprehensive, but notice the Titles, Items, and System sections. There's our problematic areas. Now, I'm well aware that data pages are super time-consuming, but I have to mention it because it is an area of concern. The information is out there. In my spare time, I'm going to work on tackling the ToD data pages because lacking them makes me a sad panda. Definitely one of my favorite games in the series, and I'm actually playing through it again right now. I hope to work on character and location pages for it as I go, which brings me to the last area.

Location pages are, again, like a hit and miss on this wiki. We do very well with some (ToP, ToS, ToR, ToL, ToI); okay with others (TotA, ToV); and horribly with pretty much the remainder (ToD, ToE, ToD2, ToH, ToG, ToX, ToX2, ToZ). I'll be working on ToD/2, but as you can see, it's primarily the newer titles. I could maybe tackle ToE based on Let's Plays and stuff, but the others, I'm thinking that maybe we should take a different approach. I once went more toward a compilation route, but I broke away from it as I began creating more location pages. Should we consider something similar for these games? Maybe not all on one page, but something like the Kingdom of Euclid and Kingdom of Alvanista pages have going on? I can't get past the fact that ToX/2 have so many locations. Consolidation? Other thoughts or ideas? Also, for ToH, character pages are just as bad.

These are just things I'm addressing now that the wiki has become a lot stabler. Take that as you will. Likewise, please make comments and suggestions regarding these points or others.

Arosia (talk) 19:22, December 24, 2015 (UTC)

I can help with arte pages for Graces and both Xillias since I have them (plus, it's not like there aren't any arte showcases on YouTube so anyone can do them) and I suppose I can do Zestiria as well since I already did some of them. It would be a good idea if each of one would focus on a few games they're comfortable with and from them we can work on fixing them style-wise if there're some errors or something. I can also do locations for Graces and both Xillias but that would take definitely more time, especially with Xillias.—Kaimi (999,999 CP/5 TP) ∙ 21:56, December 24, 2015 (UTC)

Thank you. That would be a great help with the arte pages. I agree that focusing on games with which we're more comfortable will help, and luckily for us, that will help disperse our efforts since the newer titles aren't really my specialty. I wouldn't worry too much about location pages. It would be great, however, if we could maybe get it mapped out how we plan on tackling those. Do the ToX/2 locations all require their own page, or is there a way we could possibly consolidate them?

Arosia (talk) 22:44, December 24, 2015 (UTC)

Rashugal, Auj Oule, and Elympios would be the equivalent of the Kingdom pages for the Xillia games. A lot of the named locations in that game are essentially transition areas, since the world map has fallen out of use.

I'm still focused on playing the games and, to be honest, my personal arte compilation project, especially after I found Abyss enemy modification codes. Lanate (talk) 01:58, December 25, 2015 (UTC)

I too own Graces, both Xillias, and Zestiria, but I've currently lent my PS3 to my brother so I only have access to Zestiria at the moment. So I can make a few arte pages as well.

MabiEditor (talk) 02:16, December 25, 2015 (UTC)

@Lanate: Okay, then those transition areas can definitely be compiled into their respective kingdom pages.

@MabiEditor: Any help is appreciated. If you need reference to remember how the artes look, there's plenty of arte exhibition videos on YouTube. That's mainly what I use for reference when I create arte pages.

Arosia (talk) 02:36, December 25, 2015 (UTC)

Happy New Year

Thank you, everyone, for all your hard work on the wiki this past year. Enjoy the new layout and changes!

Arosia (talk) 08:02, January 1, 2016 (UTC)

Bumping this post because I think it got lost in the recent sweep of edits. =)

Arosia (talk) 19:50, January 1, 2016 (UTC)

This is a really cool update! Good job, guys! ;) —Kaimi (999,999 CP/5 TP) ∙ 12:33, January 3, 2016 (UTC)

Glad you like it! I've been in touch with Abby over at AC, and they will be mentioning our new look and all the progress we've made over the past year in a news update scheduled for Tuesday.

Arosia (talk) 21:42, January 3, 2016 (UTC)

That's super cool! It's also a good way in promoting the Wiki, and hopefully getting a new pair of hands or two to help us.—Kaimi (999,999 CP/5 TP) ∙ 08:07, January 4, 2016 (UTC)

Postponed until Friday.

Arosia (talk) 06:27, January 8, 2016 (UTC)

Postponed until whenever. Don't ask.

Arosia (talk) 18:42, January 9, 2016 (UTC)

Abby's been going through a lot lately, but she promised there will be an update soon.

Arosia (talk) 01:04, January 14, 2016 (UTC)

It's been posted! Check it out here.

Arosia (talk) 18:10, January 17, 2016 (UTC)

Priorities (again)

To save myself the trouble, let's just talk about priorities here. I've already made a few comments on Lanate's talk page, but the only thing I'm emphasizing and personally working on myself right now is emptying the Unused photos repository. If you'd like to help, please browse through it and see what unused images we have. The pages that need to be created in order to use each image should be self-explanatory, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask. Thank you to Kaimi for working on arte pages and putting a lot of those images to use. Please discuss areas you feel are lacking or issues you feel should be addressed.

Arosia (talk) 22:13, September 8, 2016 (UTC)

I'll make articles for ToG and ToX/2 artes in the near future. We also have images for enemy artes, should we make them for the sake of emptying the repository? Well, might as well: we'll never know if ToLink won't make them artes for playable units or something. Also, we have quite an amount of enemy images: shouldn't we put them on some gallery subpage relating to Monster Book articles? Something similar to what FFWiki has like here, enemies categorized by either their types and alphabetically?—Kaimi (999,999 CP/5 TP) ∙ 22:34, September 8, 2016 (UTC)

I have already deleted unneeded images, so yes, anything in that repository should be used. I don't see why we would bother creating a page like that when we don't have images of enemies from every game. In fact, we only have them for ToD and ToE. They just need their Monster Book pages to be created in order to be used. We're only ever going to have enemy images for older, sprite-based games, really. I almost regret uploading them simply because Monster Book pages are such a hassle to create, more so even than weapon and armor pages. So yeah, there would be no need to bother spending time creating a page like that when all they need is their respective Monster Book pages. I feel like I'm repeating myself, but I'm a bit distracted right now.

Arosia (talk) 22:53, September 8, 2016 (UTC)

There are some character pages I'm not going to be able to create myself and do even a half-assed job because I either haven't played the game they're in or simply know too little about them. I'm going to list them here.

[list removed]

I'd really like to put these images to use. Remember, as long the page has the necessary format and at least a paragraph of information, it's fine. Let's turn these red links blue!

Arosia (talk) 02:10, September 19, 2016 (UTC)

By the way, we made it under 500 unused images.

Arosia (talk) 05:31, September 26, 2016 (UTC)

Making quite a bit of progress! The above characters, a lot of artes, and then ToD PSX enemy list are the main things left.

Arosia (talk) 06:41, September 27, 2016 (UTC)

Please take a look at the repository when you have the time in order to get an idea of what we have left.

Arosia (talk) 06:14, September 28, 2016 (UTC)

It's slimmed down a lot. I may attempt the ToD PSX enemy list page when I have the time, but I'm not sure I hate myself enough yet.

Arosia (talk) 07:19, October 14, 2016 (UTC)

There's not much else I can do with the remaining images. It would be difficult for me to create ToG and ToX arte pages without having played the games, i.e., being too unfamiliar with the battle system and gameplay mechanics. Just want to emphasize that this is still a priority, but my efforts have been exhausted and I need to focus on other things.

Arosia (talk) 21:53, November 5, 2016 (UTC)

It's really looking cleaned up now!

Arosia (talk) 05:17, November 6, 2016 (UTC)

So even though I removed the red link list, Lanate has still been gradually working on them. Kudos to Lanate! I'm really satisfied with the amount of unused images we have now, and I'm ensuring that all current and future uploads are put to use immediately so that the amount doesn't build.

Arosia (talk) 06:30, December 3, 2016 (UTC)

Some images have changed a bit. Trying to get away from in-game shots in favor of official artwork. If in-game shots must be used, they should be solid shots of great quality.

Arosia (talk) 22:51, December 6, 2016 (UTC)

I've cleared out more of the unused ones, and it's pretty much just artes left. I hate creating arte pages because it's a lot of reference work, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Arosia (talk) 08:48, January 30, 2017 (UTC)

All done. Please check and make necessary changes in case I overlooked something.

Arosia (talk) 08:44, February 1, 2017 (UTC)

Priorities (yet again)

Not that there are really that many, but I'd like to mention the areas where we're still lacking. Location pages still require some attention, though they're not too pertinent. This was my project that I got burnt out on, and now I only work on it when I really have nothing else to do. Arte pages have come along nicely; what I'd like to see now is getting images added to the ones that don't have any. Doing so really pulls the page together and provides an added visualization to the arte description. The only other area I can think of is the expansion of the History section on certain character pages. It's a large feat, yes, but most aren't too bad; it's mainly the newer ones. A helpful tip is to use completed History sections of characters from the same game to help write others. Anyway, that's all. Feel free to comment.

Arosia (talk) 00:49, October 9, 2017 (UTC)

All of this is still true, but for the most part, things are stable. I will be leaving within the next month or so, but until then, I'm going to put in a bit of effort here and there when I have the time. The important thing to remember with location pages is consolidation, fitting smaller locations like dungeons onto bigger location pages like worlds or whatever works best. I've done this with a lot of locations, so those examples should be referenced in the future, should anyone choose to take on this task.

The reason I've stopped arte page creation for the most part is because it's difficult to do them correctly for many users, and most of them aren't cataloging many users in Appearances, sacrificing pertinence, or being given images, which I feel is extremely important. There's a lot of History sections, notably Zestiria characters, missing or incomplete, and to be honest the same goes for a lot of Berseria characters. Game pages are rarely lacking and term pages are generally easy to create, so I think that covers everything. Just a little status report.

Arosia (talk) 22:58, March 9, 2018 (UTC)

Russian Tales Wiki link

Since I'm not able to edit the homepage without admin powers (thanks past me), I'm posting this here. The interwiki Russian link at the bottom of the page is missing. I realize the affiliate link exists on the side, but seeing as how we included the Dutch link at the bottom, I feel it's appropriate to be consistent. Not to mention this is what most wikis do as a means of easily locating other language wikis rather than scouring the main page for an obscure link.

Arosia (talk) 20:05, June 3, 2020 (UTC)

Please disable message walls

https://community.fandom.com/wiki/Help:Message_Wall#How_to_enable_or_disable_Message_Walls

I want the old "User talk:" namespace back. I want the old archives to be restored. I want to eliminate as much of this encroaching social media trash as possible.

Alternatively, if these disgusting message walls are actually preferred by the current userbase, then may I make a direct request to the admins? As a non-admin, I do not have the ability to lock threads posted on my message wall. I wish for any and all threads on my wall to be locked, regardless of content. I do not want to be alerted about new messages or whatever else. And I have no intention to utilize this messaging system whatsoever. Ideally, I would want the message wall tied to my account to be disabled entirely, but that does not seem to be a possible option. If any new thread pops up on my message wall for any reason, please lock it immediately so that any future attempts will hopefully be discouraged.

Double-Hitting Mamako~ (talk) 05:44, 10 October 2020 (UTC)

I'll admit, I actually had been enjoying the message wall utility up until it became separated out from the main section. I've reverted back to talk pages for now due to its clumsy integration with the Recentchanges unless there is advocacy otherwise. Lanate (talk) 17:23, 11 October 2020 (UTC)

Agree with Mayu, although now it appears that anything that was added after the change is no longer there, in the same vein as the archives disappearing previously. It's not a big deal, but ideally I would prefer to archive those newer posts as well. I can't even access them via my "Contributions" tab to make the transfer manually.

Arosia (talk) 18:06, 11 October 2020 (UTC)

I can't. The shoddy coding only allows a binary option. I can return it to Message Wall and then sunset it in a week for those who would prefer to archive them. Is that all right? Lanate (talk) 18:07, 11 October 2020 (UTC)

Yes, I would prefer that. I can even take some time to help others manually transfer those posts as well. Hopefully Mayu is okay with it since it's temporary and will archive those conversations that are just as valid as the pre-transition ones, in spite of their implementation.

Arosia (talk) 18:14, 11 October 2020 (UTC)

Meh, sure. I'll copy the messages currently on my wall and place them on my restored talk page with a "spam" label, which is what it is for me. I only care enough to do this with my own wall and don't care enough to recall the locations of other conversations and transfer them. I still want the stuff on my wall to be locked.

Double-Hitting Mamako~ (talk) 22:59, 11 October 2020 (UTC)