Wikibooks:Reading room/Proposals/2021/July

Creating subshelves for Electronic Games
Now that there are a few strategy guides on WikiBooks, I've realized that Shelf:Electronic games, a shelf which predates the recent decision, is getting a bit cluttered by vastly different book types. I propose creating two subshelves to help readers find material relevant to their interests.
 * Strategy Guides for specific games.
 * Electronic Game Development (Concerning development of video games, idea for WikiBooks like Game Creation with the Unity Game Engine, Creating a Simple 3D Game with XNA, ETF Mapping, Game Creation with XNA and How to Mod Civ 4)

There are a few edge cases that don't fit neatly into either subshelf, such as History of video games as well as Metal Gear Series, which is closer to Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter in format then a strategy guide. A third potential subshelf might include guides to simulation games/tools which existed on Wiki-Books prior to the strategy guide decision such as Trainz, X-Plane Flight Simulator, SimCity and Urban Planning and 0 A.D., but as these are the only current items in this category, I'm unsure if it's currently warranted.

Thank you for your time and consideration! --Mbrickn (discuss • contribs) 00:20, 9 June 2021 (UTC)
 * thanks for sharing your thoughts! I was thinking of this idea but decided to let it of until more books are written. There are only two books about Minecraft and I don’t think a shelf with only two books is worth creating. However, it seems there are 4 books about Mario so I creating Shelf:Mario, Shelf:Mario franchise, Shelf:Mario video games, or whatever. -Gifnk dlm 2020 (discuss • contribs) 12:06, 9 June 2021 (UTC)
 * I do not mind this proposal either. Leaderboard (discuss • contribs) 14:24, 9 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Ah, I worded that poorly, though I'm glad I did because your idea is intriguing. I was simply proposing a general strategy guide shelf, to contain strategy guides as a whole separately from other electronic game content. However I do think some larger series would benefit from their own shelves, as you mentioned. --Mbrickn (discuss • contribs) 19:14, 9 June 2021 (UTC)
 * It’s possible to have both. Like there’s Shelf:History by continent, it’s possible to have Shelf:Books about electronic games by series (surely there’s a better way to word it). Then it’s possible also to have Shelf:Strategy guides. -Gifnk dlm 2020 (discuss • contribs) 10:09, 11 June 2021 (UTC)
 * That makes sense. I think I would arrange it like such (Using Mario and Final Fantasy as placeholder series):

or with an extra shelf What do you think? Thanks you for your input! --Mbrickn (discuss • contribs) 18:33, 11 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Electronic Games
 * Game Development
 * Strategy Guides
 * Mario Series
 * Final Fantasy Series
 * Electronic Games
 * Game Development
 * Strategy Guides
 * Strategy Guides by Series
 * Mario Series
 * Final Fantasy Series
 * I think it’s over all a good idea but with a small problem. There can be books about Mario series and Final Fantasy Series that aren’t necessary strategy guides (for example books about the history of these games). That’s why I suggest the following categorization:

That being said I think franchise is better than series since not all notable games are part of a series. -Gifnk dlm 2020 (discuss • contribs) 20:11, 11 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Electronic games
 * Game development
 * Strategy Guides
 * Games by Series/franchise
 * Final Fantasy Series
 * Mario Series
 * Minecraft
 * Pokemon Series
 * I see! That makes more sense, and I your version as you have laid out.--Mbrickn (discuss • contribs) 20:32, 11 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Looks good, but how about simply:


 * Electronic games
 * Game development
 * Strategy guides
 * Final Fantasy
 * Super Mario
 * Minecraft
 * Pokemon
 * Slightly simplified would be better I feel. We can put (say) a Final Fantasy book on both the Strategy guides and Final Fantasy shelves, if both are applicable.
 * Also, I feel maybe we should rename "Shelf:Electronic games" to "Shelf:Video games"? Although they aren't synonyms, the books we currently have all fit the description of video games (from looking through them earlier). It's a name that's more commonly used. -- Jules (Mrjulesd) 22:02, 11 June 2021 (UTC)
 * That makes a lot of sense. I'd that as well. Very versatile. --Mbrickn (discuss • contribs) 00:35, 12 June 2021 (UTC)
 * I just realized I overlooked Shelf:Game design somehow, which while not quite the same as Game Development, is being used as a shelf for that topic in common use. It already exists, so there's no need for a seperate Game Development shelf.
 * Oh yeah, it exists but should be in Shelf:Electronic games and not in Shelf:Games. -Gifnk dlm 2020 (discuss • contribs) 08:49, 12 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Oh yeah, it exists but should be in Shelf:Electronic games and not in Shelf:Games. -Gifnk dlm 2020 (discuss • contribs) 08:49, 12 June 2021 (UTC)

there are 10 books about Mario. I suggest to create a shelf for Mario games.-Gifnk dlm 2020 (discuss • contribs) 15:58, 15 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Agreed. --Mbrickn (discuss • contribs) 06:03, 3 July 2021 (UTC)
 * , I think we shouldcreate a shelf called electronic games by series that will work sort of like how Shelf:History by continent works. -Gifnk dlm 2020 (discuss • contribs) 14:45, 8 July 2021 (UTC)
 * That may work. I've been thinking and perhaps it may be best to have some sort of list of popular culture series instead of limiting them to games alone. For example, there is Guide to The Lord of the Rings, analyzing the books, but there are also over a dozen video games based on the series as well, in addition to board games, movies, etc. This would be of potential value to someone studying popular culture. Combined with the organizational style proposed by User:Mrjulesd would offer more flexibility for authors of Wikibooks on other related subjects. --Mbrickn (discuss • contribs) 18:56, 8 July 2021 (UTC)

Adding URL file upload to admins and uploaders
I'm noticing cases where non-free images are legitimately taken from different sources (for instance, from StrategyWiki), and hence I was wondering whether we could enable URL file upload for admins and uploaders, so that they do not have to manually download the images every time they want to use it. What do you think? Leaderboard (discuss • contribs) 12:49, 4 July 2021 (UTC)
 * That seems like it could be a timesaver, especially on slow connections. I'm not an uploader though. --Mbrickn (discuss • contribs) 01:10, 9 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Certainly useful, but on a sidenote: do the recent videogame-related uploads (character sprites, item icons, step-by-step game screenshots) even meet WB:NFCC? They're certainly nice for players, but many don't seem necessary for reader's understanding. I'm not familiar with Wikibook's interpretation of what is and isn't acceptable, but if it's anything close to other Wikimedia projects their usage would fail NFCC. ~ Super  Hamster  Talk Contribs 19:08, 12 July 2021 (UTC)
 * I think if you provide a good enough rationale for both gamers and non-gamers to understand (e.g. why it's important have this exact picture and what it shows), it should be fine. For large artworks or box covers I try and upload them smaller. If I'm not mistaken, this is probably why only certain people are given the uploader role. 2005-Fan (discuss • contribs) 19:18, 12 July 2021 (UTC)
 * That, and the fact that free-use images should absolutely go to Commons. Leaderboard (discuss • contribs) 19:29, 12 July 2021 (UTC)