Forum:Joke articles

Alright now, really. This is getting completely and utterly ridiculous, some of these joke articles. We need a stronger policy on joke articles, as some of these have either nothing to do with Star Wars, resemble Uncyclopedia articles, some are just plain ridiculous, and others look like junk. I propose a stronger joke article policy, otherwise we'll have thousands of joke articles and, in all respects, they just don't belong here. This is a Star Wars Fanon Wiki. This really isn't a place for joke articles. While some that have an actual relation to SW can be here, some make this Wiki look like a disgrace. Take this stuff to Uncyclopedia or ED. Discuss a new policy/ideas here. -- Talk to an Admin Mind Trick Jedi Library

* '''Note:Before we support something, we must have something to support yes? Let's get to work on this Joke Article policy before we vote on it! :P'''*

Support

 * 1) My name is CurrentBigThing, and I support this proposition!
 * 2) Obviously! Joke articles are getting worse these days.
 * 3) Some of them are actually pretty good. But an Elephant Smuggler? Don't even wanna know.--[[Image:DTylerSig.gif|150px]] Talk to Palpy Palpy is awesome[[Image:Sidsaber.jpg|25px]] 02:13, 28 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Yes, these joke articles are ridiculous now and days. [[Image:SVsig.jpg]] (Talk)
 * 1) [[Image:DarthAb.gif|Jasca Ducato]] Sith Council Sith Campaign 19:28, 28 April 2007 (UTC)
 * 2) &mdash;Grand Admiral J. Nebulax (Imperial Holovision) (Record of Imperial Service) [[Image:Imperial Emblem.png|20px]] 19:31, 28 April 2007 (UTC)
 * 3) I fully support Squishy Vic's proposition. --Jack Phoenix (Contact) 23:02, 28 April 2007 (UTC)
 * 4) Half of them I don't even get, or laugh at. Darth tader Mandalore clan  MPTG [[Image:MandalorianKOTOR.jpg|15px]] 00:21, 29 April 2007 (UTC)
 * 5) Most of them are dumb.Troyb 01:05, 29 April 2007 (UTC)
 * 6) First step in taking the crap out of this wiki. I really get annoyed by crap.--1upD 16:21, 29 April 2007 (UTC)

Oppose

 * 1) Humour is subjective. I find the Jasca Ducato article to be hilarious stuff. Should we delete it? Maybe. It's a joke. You can't honestly regulate this. Thefourdotelipsis 01:03, 29 April 2007 (UTC)
 * And what specific part of that article is "hilarious" as you put it? [[Image:DarthAb.gif|Jasca Ducato]] Sith Council Sith Campaign 12:23, 29 April 2007 (UTC)
 * 1) Correct, humor is subjective. So why should we have articles about Barney the Dinosaur as joke articles when most users don't think its funny?
 * 2) I find most of the "serious" articles more ridiculous than the so-called "jokes". Who gets to decide what's serious and what isn't? If I tell you that the "unknown" article is a completely serious work, what right do you have to say otherwise? - Lord Hydronium 02:04, 29 April 2007 (UTC)
 * 3) I've had enough trouble with people with no sense of humor (not pointing to anyone in particular) '''[[Image:Darth-T.gif]] (Talk to me) (My work)(Become a Jedi) [[Image:Verslinden.JPG|25px]] 03:20, 29 April 2007 (UTC)

Comments
Probably should be moved to consensus track

The idea that people can decide what's "pointless" or shouldn't exist in a wiki where the whole point is to make stuff up is mind-boggling. "Feel free to explore your imagination! Just not too much. Make sure you only explore it within the limits we say are OK. And don't be funny." Honestly, you might as well get rid of any pretension you have of being a place for imagination or creativity, because apparently those things are only OK as long as the good people in charge think your imagination is the "correct" kind. - Lord Hydronium 02:17, 29 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Are you kidding me? Yeah, everyone can express their imagination by creating their own Star Wars Fanon, which is information they made up about their own Star Wars adventures. Not jokes. Jokes don't belong here. This is not a socializing zone, such as MySpace. This is for writers to express their imagination through creating characters, starships, and other Star Wars stories that they've always wanted to express to others. Not jokes; why doesn't someone request a joke wiki for that, or a fan club wiki for fan clubs. Just because you may not take Star Wars Fanon seriously, Hydronium, doesn't mean the serious and dedicated users don't. I certainly do. And I know this wiki was not intended to be a place to create clans, jokes, and other socializing items. It's for fanon creations.


 * So who gets to decide what's a joke? Because it sounds like what it comes down to is, like I said, a few people rendering judgment on what's a proper use of one's imagination. If my imagination expresses itself in a way that others may find "silly", that makes it invalid. You want to remove pages just because you think they're a joke, you might as well change that front page message to something more along the lines of, "Feel free to create articles about things that you made up, as long as we say they're the right things." To paraphrase you, just because you don't take some articles seriously, doesn't mean their serious and dedicated contributers don't. - Lord Hydronium 04:19, 29 April 2007 (UTC)
 * No, what I believe should be getting across to others is "Express your imagination, but this is not the place for jokes". And besides, the articles that I referred to were deemed as joke articles. Such as the Barney, Eminem, and the Anna Nicole Smith articles. So how could I discredit them, when the users themselves already judged them as jokes? And in case you did not read my entire proposal, I stated that if a joke article was made with good quality, decent length, and kept the interest of the reader (not just "Eminem was a rapper and criminal, who killed a bunch of guys"), then I would have no problem keeping that article around, regardless of the fact that it's a joke article. And like I said, this Wiki wasn't created for users to post and make articles about jokes, but instead to create articles with fanon information regarding their own Star Wars universe.

I think that there is plenty of crud in some Joke Articles, but quite frankly, there's crud in pretty much every category. I think that what we need is a separate category for "serious" parodies, which are every bit as much a fanon universe as typical non-joke articles, and leave the joke article category as-is except to ban non-SW nonsense and enforce article quality standards. Eleventh Guard 07:08, 29 April 2007 (UTC)

Ideas for the policy
Post your idea for this policy below. We need your ideas.

Squishy Vic's proposal

 * I propose that we institute harsh rules and regulations against joke articles. Star Wars Fanon was never, ever meant to be a place for jokes. It is meant for users of all ages to come hither and have fun exploring with their imagination as they write ARTICLES! Not stupid joke articles about real life people, such as Anna Nicole Smith or Eminem. My proposition is simple, and I'll break it down below.
 * No joke articles that have nothing to do with Star Wars. What this means is that articles such as Anna Nicole Smith, Eminem, Barney, Fergie, etc. are not to be allowed and should be instantly deleted. No matter if they say Anna was a bounty hunter for the empire or Fergie was Jabba's dancer; it has real life content that could not be incorporated into Star Wars. Articles such as the life of C-3PO, is fine, because it makes fun of a canon character and how he lived his life. Also, articles like Star Spoofs (I think that is the name) is fine, because it makes fun of the Star Wars Films. However, Eminem is in no way associated with Star Wars and making an article about him being a rapper and bounty hunter (or whatever the case) is stupid, pointless and annoying. The only exception I could support, is making (for example) a worthy article about George Bush being a Sith. Not one that is simply 3-4 paragraphs long. I mean a decent story, perhaps around 10-20kb. That would be the only exception, because how could one liner articles have any content and be funny? Most articles around here (joke ones) are not funny at all.
 * No cussing in joke articles. No cussing, no matter how funny, is to be incorporated into even joke articles because this is supposed to be a family friendly zone. Anyone who creates an explicit joke article will be warned to remove the explicit content within a time span (24 hours, I say) and if they do not, they will be banned for a certain amount of time and their article deleted. Recreation of the article with the same content (or worse) will result in a more punishing ban.
 * Limit the number of joke articles going around, even if Star Wars related. For example, one story parodying C3PO's life is fine, but 3 or more (of anyone/anything) is simply getting annoying and ridiculous. Perhaps joke articles could be free edit but must be seriously taken; How Jabba did a backflip is stupid, as is How C3PO slew a dragon (even though I contributed to that one, I believe it should be taken down). Stories should be like a regular article, except be made into a joke.
 * That is my proposition, tell me what you think (everyone).

Support

 * 1) YES!!! REGULATE THE JOKE ARTICLES!
 * 2) I never really thought I'd be radical enough to supprt this, but yeah.
 * 3) What they said.Troyb 01:30, 29 April 2007 (UTC)
 * 4) Since this is the only idea so far, it qualifies as the best.

Oppose

 * 1) David West Reynolds is a real person. He's also a canon character. These characters might just happen to have similair names to real people. What if there's someone out there called Jack Nebulax? Delete Jack's article? Go ahead! 60.230.44.199 01:22, 29 April 2007 (UTC)
 * 2) *Sorry, that's me. Here's another one you will have to delete: Strasbourg. Thefourdotelipsis 01:24, 29 April 2007 (UTC)
 * No we wouldn't [have to delete it], for two reasons. A) It's not meant to be a joke article; and B) if it was a joke, it isn't a low quality two liner joke such as this one.
 * Ah, but then what is and is not "meant" to be a joke article. The "Unknown" article is of the utmost seriousness...and I find it amusing that when someone who has actually contributed to canon writes something here, you poo-poo him. Thefourdotelipsis 01:59, 29 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Then in that case, I would not delete the Unknown being of unknown stuff. [[Image:SVsig.jpg]] (Talk)


 * 1) Per 4dot, and the idea that the only person who can say what's "meant" to be a joke is its author. - Lord Hydronium 02:10, 29 April 2007 (UTC)
 * 2) Too stringent of a policy, IMHO. The anti-cursing policy is redundant, since it's already against the rules of SWFanon to go too far with that and I see no reason for joke articles to be held to an even milder standard than other articles. Ought to be the same. I do think we need a rule stating that joke articles must have Star Wars as their primary topic, so that an article about a celebrity with one line about the Force thrown in wouldn't qualify. But other than that, and making sure to hold jokes to the same standards as other articles, there's no need, IMHO, for detailed policies on it. SWFanon is supposed to be for fun, and pages and pages of rules that are partially redundant or otherwise unnecessary makes it less so. And the lines between jokes, semi-jokes, and non-jokes are not always clear. Eleventh Guard 16:19, 29 April 2007 (UTC)
 * You need to understand that Star Wars Fanon is not a place for jokes, and those who post or write jokes have been given the privilege of doing so. And the cussing policy isn't anything new, I'm just ensuring that joke articles too do not have an advantage simply because they are jokes. lastly, Joke articles should be good quality, because or else it looks messy and like junk. A joke should be good and well formatted, as should any other article, joke or not. [[Image:SVsig.jpg]] (Talk)

Comments
By "no cussing" am I right to assume that this means that we're not allowed to use curses that exceed the limits already laid out in the Star Wars films? The films are PG, not G, and mild cursing does happen - for SWFanon to be even stricter than the films makes no sense. And exactly what is the rule on using Star-Wars-specific terminology from the books, like "kark," "kriff," and "shavit," words that roughly have American English translations but are not the American English words themselves? Eleventh Guard 16:13, 29 April 2007 (UTC)
 * I personally would not see a problem with words such as "kriffing" or "sithspawn". And I never said that SWFanon would be stricter that the films. The films don't even cuss much beyond hell and damn. Those words, IMO, are fine. I was talking about extreme words such as the f-word, or the sh-word. [[Image:SVsig.jpg]] (Talk)
 * That makes more sense. Thanks for clearing that up I still don't really like the policy, though, because of the difficulty in determining the difference between jokes and serious articles with funny parts, and if the intent was that the cursing rule should be the same as for the rest of the wiki, then there's no need to make policy about it, because it's already covered. Eleventh Guard 16:21, 29 April 2007 (UTC)