The Ratchet & Clank Wiki is an online wiki encyclopedia about the Ratchet & Clank series. It consists of a collaborative community whose aim is to curate accurate and comprehensive content for Ratchet & Clank fans.
Structure and functionality
The Ratchet & Clank Wiki's content (articles, pictures, etc.) is created by any of its visitors. While some visitors create an account to edit, it is not required and some do not (however it is free and easy and comes with several benefits). Articles are written, revised, and monitored in accordance with the site's guideline and associated help pages to ensure they are up to standard in quality, reliability, and encyclopedic value. Furthermore, information and images kept on the site are restricted to the wiki's scope.
The site is managed by a group of contributors known as administrators, who have the ability to delete and undelete pages, protect pages, rollback edits, block users, and edit the site's interface pages (see Project:Administrators for more information).
All decisions are made either according to or with respect for community consensus, determined by discussion among editors (usually via talk pages, community forums, or chat sessions). Not the status of the contributor to the discussion nor the number of votes on a particular issue determine consensus—rather, the cogency of the presented arguments win out through a process of concession and good faith. However, regardless of any consensus, the dependence upon reliable sources to maintain the integrity of the site remains invariably paramount.
History
The Ratchet & Clank Wiki was founded February 21, 2006 by Thai420, who effectively abandoned the wiki after a year of formative contributions. While the next few years saw the addition and removal of numerous users to the administrative team, Hunterj arrived November 2007, and was promoted to administrator and bureaucrat almost a year later after substantial contributions.
Hunterj remained the most involved administrator for nearly the next eight years, seeing many administrators come and go over the years, with the notable exception of Torta de Limão, who was promoted in November 2012 after a successful community nomination. Eventually both Hunterj and Torta de Limão reached technical inactivity, and thus on June 12, 2015, DrNefarious successfully adopted the wiki and proceeded to make changes alongside his newly appointed administrator PapiDimmi.
PapiDimmi made sweeping changes across the wiki, attracting the attention of the administrative team of the Jak and Daxter Wiki. A brief stint in off-wiki collaboration resulted in the transition of administrative duties to the Jak and Daxter admins, alongside the adoptive bureaucrat and returned active admin Torta de Limão.
The current administrative team now consists of DrNefarious, Light Daxter, Technobliterator, and Thatawesomecat, the latter three of whom initiated the revamp project, the first concerted wiki-wide overhaul to replace the wiki's content (paralleling the Jak and Daxter Wiki which had just successfully undergone the same process).
Scope
The scope of the Ratchet & Clank Wiki (that is, its focus and criteria for inclusion) is confined to the "canon" of the Ratchet & Clank series to ensure the site's practical and encyclopedic value. Any material added to the site that is deemed excessive of the scope will be removed.
- Scope
- Obviously unrelated articles or files that are created or uploaded will be deleted on sight (we're neither an image hosting site nor free ad space).
- Information regarding real-life people and organizations, however related to Ratchet & Clank, likely goes beyond their experience with the series, and are therefore, if notable enough, outsourced to their respective Wikipedia articles.
- Similarly, material found in some games that is not unique or distinctly critical to the Ratchet & Clank series is considered non-notable and therefore exceeds the scope.
What the Ratchet & Clank Wiki is not...
It is easy, especially for inexperienced contributors, to misconstrue the site's goals and focus. It is important to recognize that the Ratchet & Clank Wiki is not:
- Content
- A mirror or repository of links or files. Pages created to promote anything other than the goals of the community will be considered spam, and images uploaded without the intention to be used in articles will be deleted.
- A place for speculation, theories, or fan fiction. These things should be discussed elsewhere, like on r/ratchetandclank, Ratchet & Clank Fanon Wiki, or in a chat room.
- An indiscriminate collection of information. Content must have practical and encyclopedic value. Merely being true is not enough to be included on the wiki.
- Censored. The Ratchet & Clank series' target demographic is 13 and above, as is the wiki's. Therefore, there may be potentially offensive content that will not be censored.
- Community
- An experiment in democracy. While straw polls can be helpful in determining consensus, they themselves do not establish consensus. In either case, decisions should not be made according to majority rule, but by the persuasiveness of the presented arguments.
- A bureaucracy. The site is not governed by rules. While rules are enforced, they serve to document what has historically been accepted or rejected and are therefore followed as the status quo until they are changed by new discussions for consensus. While the site has bureaucratic administrators, they are not "bureaucratic" as it is usually understood.
- A battleground, soapbox, or other vocal platform. It is rare that interpretations and extrapolations are contested as non-neutral in point of view due to the straightforward nature of the canon. However, in the event that objections are raised (with which no common ground can be established), articles should resort to highly strict interpretations and avoid original research.
- Compulsory. Do not make the mistake of taking things too seriously. Remember, editing is not required, and feel free to take a break should you feel the need to. This website is a hobby for Ratchet & Clank enthusiasts, not a full-time job. Similarly, do not become offended if you find content that is not up to par. Fix it yourself or move on.
What the Ratchet & Clank Wiki is...
In order to better promote and advance the goals of the community, there is also a list of things the Ratchet & Clank Wiki is:
- A publisher of original research. It is important to understand that articles will always represent someone's personal experience with, interpretation of, or extrapolation to, the games. Information must be cross-verifiable against the games themselves, but in general the site operates upon principles of good faith.
- A strategy guide. Here you can find mission walkthroughs, combat strategies, mission tactics, and more. Unique to the wiki, however, is that it's free, online, and collaborative, unlike paper strategy guides, which allows it to be more accommodating, accessible, and adaptable.
See also
- Project:Guideline, the wiki's main source for established consensus.
- Project:Administrators, for more information on the wiki's administration.
- Community forums, for discussions about the wiki or the Ratchet & Clank series.