Wikipedia Article for Sins -- Adding Content for Online Multiplayer Section

from Sins Forums

 

I am trying to edit the Wikipedia page for Sins of a Solar Empire to read as follows, which is a large improvement over the few sentences of content it had before.  Is the following accurate and factual?  Is any of this information inaccurate?

===Online Multiplayer===
Additional Strategic Considerations and More Challenging Opponents
Sins players can play with and/or against other people in online multiplayer through the game's Ironclad Online system or by setting up a LAN game. Although computer (AI) players are rather predictable and relatively easy to defeat, online multiplayer gives people the opportunity to compete against human opponents, which makes the game much more challenging, suspenseful, and intense. Playing online multiplayer team games also adds new strategic considerations because players will need to function as part of a team. (For example, a player who is being overrun by computer opponents in a single player game might resign and end the game. However, in a team game it is still possible for a losing player to win if his team wins, so even though he is personally suffering defeat, it may be wise to stay in the game and to try to delay or hold up his immediate opponents or distract other opponents by hitting them in the back or to join his forces with one of his allies' fleets, helping his team to victory.) "Unlocked" free for all (FFA) games introduce new diplomatic elements since players will need to make and break alliances with conniving, backstabbing human opponents and allies.
Most online multiplayer activity occurs during European and North American evenings, and most of the large team games are played with the Entrenchment expansion. Often players will set up 5v5 PUG (pick-up game) matches where two captains draft-pick the other eight players, often resulting in balanced teams and intense, competitive games. Although the game will not automatically download custom maps made with the Galaxy Forge program, players can manually download and install custom maps as needed without having to restart their game program.
-----for the Entrenchment section-----
Entrenchment has proven itself to be successful for online multiplayer, and most of the games played over Ironclad Online, especially those played on the largest maps with the most players (4v4 and 5v5), are played with the Entrenchment expansion.
End of quote
multiplayer
5,312 views 4 replies
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top

Be careful wading into wikipedia articles that deal with any form of media.  It's very easy to get carried away with details, but your goal should be brevity and focus.

I think much of the proposed addition doesn't speak so much about Sins of a Solar Empire multiplayer games as it does about multiplayer RTS games in general.  Many of the facts you state are universally true to all titles across the genre.  Perhaps you should consider refining your statements to be more concise to how they relate to Sins and its features.  Speak only briefly on generic statements like how human players are more challenging than AI players (which is universally accepted truth for all RTS games).

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Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
Hey Whip,

You have way too much editorializing in this piece demonstrating a specific point of view. You have to keep wikipedia articles really simple and straightforward. Also, by Stardock's own numbers, only 1% of the Sins community plays online....so most of your text is not targetted at 99% of the people who would read the article.

Really, you should just be stating genre (RTS), Setting (Space SciFi), and game modes (Single or Multiplayer up to 10 players playable via the internet or a network) that can be referenced directly from the Ironclad official media and game specs....don't go into any editorial description of how the player communities interact, strategy, or additional social constructs like PUGS.

Also remember, this article is targeted at people who are gamers, and they should know what an RTS is and how people commonly play an RTS, but want to know more specifically about what is unique to Sins.... that you build fleets of spaceships to conquer planets around stars, 3 races w/ brief description, Entrenchment adds powerful Starbases and mines, etc. You have to step back, see Sins for the first time, then remove all your own opinions of what it is and how you like to play it.

For example, if you want to talk about how good the game is, don't say "it is @#@#$ AWESOME!", instead add a section where you state Sins has garnered very strong reviews and recognition as innovative, then list the various reviews, links, and awards.

Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top

 

I guess I'm just a wacko then for thinking that Wikipedia entries should allow for content about the online multiplayer scene for games.  I wish they'd at least allow the creation of separate pages for that.