TF2 Wiki:Proposals

From TF2 Wiki

Removed weapons

Perhaps we can include a section based on the weapons originally seen in the first trailers, but were removed later due to testing?

Examples: Scout Nailgun.

Further information in this thread: http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=659192&highlight=grenade+beartrap

(Suggestion unsigned, originally Nanosheep at 10:44, 19 March 2008)

Single large weapon template

At the moment, we have six distinct templates for weapons (prim, sec, mêlée, unlockable prim, unlockable sec, unlockable mêlée). Such a setup complicates navigation and updating information. (Very often, I find myself wanting to jump e.g. from the flamethrower to the fire axe, but I can't do so because the flamethrower article only contains the primary weapon template.)

I suggest the specific templates be removed and replaced with one large template with the weapons categorized. This approach already works for Wikipedia -- see such complex templates as Template:Nine Inch Nails -- and I don't see it not working for TF2 Wiki. Sure, it is a bit large, but I daresay it's not confusing enough not to be used.

I have already made such a template and am looking for feedback on this particular design as well as the proposal itself.

~~RavuAlHemio 13:57, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

PS3 Version Clans

Can i Create pages dedicated to the PS3 Clans?

i am the leader and founder of The Roughnecks.

i think a PS3 Version Clans section should be created.

i know most of the major Clans personally having gone toe to toe with their various leaders.

Clans include

The Roughnecks

The T-Virus Clan

The Medic Clan

The TF2F Clan

The TF2 Clan

The Drug Clan

The Descent Of Death Clan

thanks for taking the time to read my request.

the reason im not including the PC Clans is that PS3 Clans are overlooked because players Deem Console players to be Inferior People

TF2 Wiki Research Server?

This request isn't quite a site related one, but I think a server dedicated to doing all sorts of "research" that you can't normally do during a game may come in handy. Please at least consider this!

(September 2, 2008; 21:49 site time)

Not really sure what you're looking for, are you talking about a playable game server for testing/research type purposes? Its not a bad idea, but I don't currently have the resources to do it. I'm hoping in the near future to move the wiki to a more robust server. Unfortunately, its taking longer than expected to get the server in place, but with the wiki seems to be holding up for the most part, so I'm not in too much of a hurry. Once that new server is in place, I can see if it has any room to host a game server. Of course, doing so would also likely up the hosting charges as well. Nos 09:12, 03 September 2008 (CST)

(Re:) Yeah, I meant a game server for tests, sorry for not specifying. Obviously if it's going to eat your wallet away you shouldn't do it, but if it's not too much of a problem that would be very nice.

Perhaps one of the many clans that post on here would like to donate a server, or more likely a scheduled period say ever week for wiki testing.Piggie 23:05, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

Class Affinities

Sort of to go with the Class Match-up pages, which detail the threat level of each class to every other class, we could have Class Affinities for how well each class works with other classes on the their team. Examples of High affinities might be Engineer and Pyro (spy-checking and dispenser-fueled Walls of Flame), or Medic and Heavy. Some Low affinities I can think of would be e.g. Spy with most classes (bar other Spies and Pyro for "sap and burn" assaults on Sentry nests).

Uh, yeah

There's alot of bullshit on this wiki.

We need REFERENCES, and that needs to be MANDATORY.

The problem with that is that a lot of the information doesn't have external references. I speak for myself when I say I do a lot of my own testing directly with the game. There's nobody else to cite. --Terr 03:18, 12 December 2008 (UTC)

Weapon Firing Speed

It would be nice to know how fast each weapon is fired. This would be another community testing thing, and obviously everything is an estimate, but it's better than having nothing.

--Kilroy 23:41, 19 January 2009 (UTC) Kilroy on 1/19/09

TF2 Memes

Seeing as there are now a fair few TF2 memes, such as the spy crab and the humping sniper, I think that they should be given their own page. Just a thought.

--Bolmedias14 10:39, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

TF2 Jargon

Just a page with all the lingo that goes on in the games and what it means. Just basically a page with all the terms and their meanings.

e.g. Skywalking, Crab walking, Demoman pimp walk, lagging, spychecking, scout rush, demo rush, sniper hump, crouch jump, sniper war ect.

Glossary of player terms --Wilsonator 03:41, 19 April 2009 (UTC)

Boink! 22:42 4/18/09

A welcome to the wiki page and template

I think a welcome to the wiki page, kinda like this one would be nice.
Also, maybe a Welcome to the wiki Template, that we can put on new user's talk pages? So we could place {{Welcome|Smashman}} onto my talkpage and it'll generate some stuff that says "Welcome to TF2 Wiki, Smashman! We are a wiki dedicated to Valve's game, Team Fortress 2." etc. And a link from there, to the Welcome page, mentioned earlier.
Cheers
Smashman 17:48, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

Less intrusive ads

Ads are fine, but some of these ain't. No respectable website should use inline ads and popup ads when logged in, it's really annoying. And Adblock Plus mysteriously stopped working for me months ago so I'm powerless.

Smurfy 05:54, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Seconded, I've always beleived a wiki should have no ads whatsoever. But that's up to the owner, I can't see them making much money anyway. The thought had crossed my mind to buy the servers and webaddress but as the site has just changed hands and we've heard nothing from the new owners as yet, not alot I can do about it. One thing I can say to you Smurfy is you can do the same job as Adblock plus manually anyway, if you're on Windows then look at http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm. Bare in mind though that somethings will stop working, example, Imageshack uses adclick to display images so you can't even view pictures without going through their ad-scheme. DOWN WITH INTERNET ADS! --Aurora 14:10, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

It'd be very nice if we can AT LEAST remove the text-covering pop-ups and the sound ones. If there are extreme amounts of them, it lags my browser. Almost every page has at least 3 sound ones. I don't want to have to mute just to browse a god damn wiki. They are all scams anyways. Dman 17:57, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

I wonder if this site is recognized by Valve, and if so, perhaps advertisements to their page, and the Steam page for Team Fortress 2 would be a welcome change.Piggie 20:48, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

It is recognised, all the editors were given Comminity weapons :D, but Valve don't advertise asaik and probably won't sponsor us at all. On a positive note, we may have some news on the adverts soon, stay tuned. --urora (talk | contribs) 00:08, 3 December 2009 (UTC)

Clan pages

Hi, I am the proud owner of Snakes!? No Problem! and have noticed that eGO have their own TF2wiki page. Is it possible for groups to create their own? Rokonader 16:36, 29 September 2009 (UTC)

Perfectly. In fact, that was the original intention, though most clans who put their name on the page have only made an external link to their site instead of creating their own page on the wiki. --Wilsonator 19:07, 29 September 2009 (UTC)

By all means, we've yet to establish any guidlines but in general -

• Keep it clean, of a neutral point of view, with no defamation or personal attacks.
• Stick to the established guidelines and if you upload images for the use in your clan pages, prefix the images with "Clan_" so you don't run in to naming conflicts.
• Add a link to your homepage or forums, should be standard but the reason I mention it is that it will be used for checking clan activity in the future. --urora (talk | contribs) 11:31, 30 September 2009 (UTC)

Allusions and Confirmations

I'm proposing two things: First, I noticed that there were pages titled "References(***)," and just thought that for the sake of professionalism and an attempt to literate the masses these should be replaced with the correct word "Allusions," with a redirect from "References." Perhaps it may seem an overly perfectionist change, but the goal of a wiki is constant revisions to eventual perfection.

My other suggestion regards some of the requests for more citations and such. Since almost every citation in here would resemble "Scout Death Cry" cited "See: Scout Death Cries" or "See: Play Team Fortress, knucklehead. Yeah, I'm talking to you. BONK" it would make more sense to have a one-click button on each page labeled "Confirm." I.e., if someone listed the Wilhelm Scream as a Scout's Death Cry, which I was going to edit in with a citation from Wikipedia's article on "Media that employ the Wilhelm scream", and I only happened upon through the Wikipedia article on said scream just now I have not heard it in-game to confirm, other people could listen for it and, if they find it, could mark a "Confirm" by the mention of the scream on the Allusions(Scout) page. Just an Idea. Piggie 20:43, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

I don't really have an opinion to either of those, I've not had much to do with the reference pages. I think Wilsonator would be the person to answer that one, I believe the culture reference pages were his baby originally. I will say I'm not a fan of the citation idea though, citations should be used to cite information sources to backup facts, not public opinions. Besides, the citation plugin isn't currently installed (it's on the request list) --urora (talk | contribs) 00:23, 3 December 2009 (UTC)

I don't think in this case it's a matter of literacy or professionalism. Most wikis including Wikipedia itself refer to lists of pop culture referrals etc. as 'references', and 'allusions' itself is only used to describe a casual reference informally, so reference is this case is actually more accurate. That and it would be pretty boring to move over all the reference page names and change all links to them for little visible gain.

On the second suggestion, that's not really how citations are done on most wikis, especially gaming ones and especially yet again for games like TF2 that don't rely so much on plot and sweeping background lore, with most info being difficult to cite properly. This only really comes up in references and the occassional bit of trivia, which can be solved by an external link in the right place. It seems like a lot of work otherwise, although i'm copy-editing the reference pages sometime to see what sounds more speculative and what can be taken as true beyond reasonable doubt. --Wilsonator 03:13, 3 December 2009 (UTC)

As for the allusions, I figured it would be as simple as replacing the words somewhere and all subsequent uses would be affected; I don't know much about how wikis actually function. But with the confirmation system, I don't see why just because it isn't normally used it can't be used here. It would be much easier as well as less work on the part of the individual researcher if when someone says "I think my Scout said this once" other people can confirm, "yes, I heard that too" adding immeasurably to a simple statements credibility. Just an idea, though. For now, what if people just edited in at the end of an article "Confirmations: 1" etc.?

I'm just not sure it's needed, my reasoning being that all the responses are in the GCF files anyway, so we know who says what, the only question is when they say it. For the conditions, it's as simple as someone adding it to the right section, or creating a new section. If someone adds it to the wrong section, someone else will pick up on it and change it, or post a message on the discussion page for a request for research. I don't think another system of adding confirmations to the article and cluttering it up is needed. I'm not trying to shut you down, I just think efforts would be better spent elsewhere, there's plenty still to do in the TF2 Wiki:Tasks. --urora (talk | contribs) 03:54, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

User Guides

Currently, there's little (if any) distinction between advice derived from 'consensus formulated specifically for the wiki' and 'user guides', specifically video ones; for example, most class pages have in their "See Also" sections links to tutorial videos. I enjoy the inclusion of user guides on the wiki, but they should be categorized and separated as such. I propose that class articles have a link to "Category:[Class] user guides" in their See Also sections instead of the current practice of putting individual guides in See Also sections. A broader category for user guides could also be linked on the Main Page, probably under "Community Projects". G-Mang 05:05, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

Good idea. We need some feature to allow for community written guides that can be found and read, but also something denoting they're commuinity content. Possibly a hup page and some sort of tag for the pages like (User Guide). --Wilsonator 01:10, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

Threw this together: Template:UserGuide. What's a hup page? G-Mang 01:49, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

Woops, meant a hub page, lol. Keep at it. --Wilsonator 02:35, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

Alright, I've gone ahead and implemented the suggestion, or at least a rough draft of it. Thoughts? G-Mang 03:15, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

Clan page removal

The proposal is simple: remove the clan pages from this wiki. They serve no purpose, other than to advertise for specific clans. This wiki is about providing information about Team Fortress 2, not the latest controversy in one clan or the newest WoW server in another. -- En Ex 07:10, 23 April 2010 (UTC)

I agree. This is Wiki about a game, not random clans. If clans were part of the game, like Guild Wars, I could see a reason. Considering these are just random, then I say we remove them. -- Smashman... _{(t • s • b)} 07:48, 23 April 2010 (UTC)

I agree. surlyanduncouth _(talk) 07:52, 23 April 2010 (UTC)

Look at Special:DeadendPages. The vast majority of these pages are clan pages. surlyanduncouth _(talk) 12:32, 23 April 2010 (UTC)

I did notice that. And the Machinima pages. We oughta do something about those. -- Smashman... _{(t • s • b)} 13:10, 23 April 2010 (UTC)

Not sure how much my opinion is worth, but I agree as well. Let's do it? Shine 15:04, 23 April 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, the machinma stuff doesn't help either. Smashman, you want us to start taking apart these pages? I think we should start by removing deleting the images from the pages...what do you think? -- En Ex 16:34, 23 April 2010 (UTC)

You seem to have anyway. It's all good, you may as well.. -- Smashman... _{(t • s • b)} 01:21, 24 April 2010 (UTC)

Layout guide, at least for Map pages

Since most articles that used to be (superfluously) formatted exclusively from a template are being updated, I propose we devise a layout guide similar to the OverWiki layout guide found here. This is essential to maintain order on pages these pages, especially the map pages. It wouldn't take much, but would need to be publicised so people are aware of it. surlyanduncouth _(talk) 14:06, 23 April 2010 (UTC)

Weapon categorization revamp.

I am now aware that it has already been a subject of much debate whether to change the weapon slots of various weapons: namely, the revolver (and related), grenade launcher, stickybomb launcher, Scottish Resistance, electro sapper, disguise kit, and the Engineer's PDAs. With that awareness, I now make this proposal.

It seems my motives were originally mistaken; my reasoning for wanting to change these weapons' categories is not simply because it better corresponds to the crafting system, but because it better corresponds to the loadout system.

Should you open the Demoman's loadout menu, you will be shown five slots: three on the left, and two on the right. The top-most slot on the left-hand side will (as of this date) show either a stickybomb launcher, the Scottish Resistance, or the Chargin' Targe. If you select this slot (as if you were to change the weapon in that slot), the new menu will show large words near the top of the screen which say "PRIMARY WEAPON".

Doing the same with the Demoman's grenade launcher will show a screen with large words saying "SECONDARY WEAPON".

Doing the same with the Spy's revolver or Ambassador will show a screen with large words saying "SECONDARY WEAPON".

These three weapons' loadout slots do not correlate with their numerical slots; the grenade launcher is in slot 1 in-game, usually reserved for primary weapons, and the case is the same for the revolver. Based upon this fact, we can no longer assume that all weapons in slot 1 are primary weapons. The only way to verify whether a weapon is a primary weapon, secondary weapon, melee weapon, or PDA is if it is shown in the loadout menu (or, by extension, crafting). In the meantime, for any weapon that is not displayed in the loadout menu, we cannot know with certainty which slot it belongs to. This applies to the engineer's PDAs, and the Spy's electro sapper and disguise kit. It is for this reason that I believe those four weapons should be placed into an "Other" weapon category until it is made clear what kind of weapon they truly are.

I respect that some TF2 Wiki authors believe that weapons should remain categorized based upon the numerical slot they occupy. However, I feel that it is wrong for readers to face a dichotomy: the game says a grenade launcher is a secondary weapon, and a popular and respected wiki says it is a primary weapon. If the wiki is updated to adopt the miniature overhaul I propose, this dichotomy will no longer exist.

Thank you. --Kohan 06:11, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

I'd like to propose an alternative that's a little less disagreeable: stop using the terms "primary" and "secondary" and use terms like "first-slot" and "slot-two". For example, the Grenade launcher article's first sentence could read: "The Grenade launcher is a slot-one weapon for the Demoman", or "The Grenade launcher is the first-slot weapon for the Demoman."

The crafting and loadout systems don't apply to console gamers OR first-time PC players, so it would only serve to confuse them. In the end, the whole primary vs. secondary debate is old and annoying and neither side is as clear as just saying the slot. Just my two cents. ~G-Mang (T|C) 07:20, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Very well. But let me ask you this: what happens when a primary/secondary weapon comes along that both the Soldier and Demoman can equip? You can't say it's a slot-one unlockable weapon, because it's a slot-two on the other class, and vice versa. --Kohan 16:07, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Technically, the revolver and grenade launcher were always secondary weapons when you look at the animation names. Although, the disguise system works on a per-slot basis. I don't see the point of playing around with this kind of debate, the confusion with "slot-weapon type" has been present from day 1.

If you really want the types, from Valve's point of view:

• The Engineer's build and destroy tools are PDAs.
• The Spy's disguise kit is a PDA.
• The Spy's sapper, is well, a sapper. That's literally how it's referred to. Go take a look.

--Vi3trice 12:21, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

My two cents are to have them listed on the wiki as Slot 1, Slot 2, Slot 3, Slot 5... and in the article give their position in the crafting system. This seems like an easy solution and shouldn't confuse players. CaptainQuirk 16:12, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Oh wow, that actually sounds great. I'm in support. Discuss! Edit: Also, what numerical slot does the invisibility watch fall into? --Kohan 16:48, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Theoretically, none. --Vi3trice 17:05, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Incorrect. It occupies a numerical slot according to the quick switch menu. It could be 6 or 7, I can't test right now. Pilk _(talk) 17:33, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

I'm getting something on slot 5 or 6, but the only thing I get is that "use" sound from Half-Life when I try to switch to those slots. Can't guess what's in them. --Vi3trice 17:52, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

They always make that sound. --Kohan 18:43, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

It is incorrect to say "The Grenade Launcher is a primary weapon for the Demoman." It is more correct to say "The Grenade Launcher is a secondary weapon (that occupies slot 1) for the Demoman." The PDAs are correctly in their slots here. The Electro sapper does not have a "slot", it is a building as far as the game is concerned (this is why it isn't listed in items_game.txt).

My conclusion: when referring to a weapon slot, it should be the numerical slot according to which order it is on the HUD and which number accesses it with the slotx command in the console. So saying SLOT should be associated with a NUMBER. When referring to it otherwise, it should be what the game considers it both for crafting and what is displayed in the loadout screen. Weapons are not primary because they occupy slot 1.

This would mean that the Sticky bomb launcher and Grenade launcher would need to be changed to say "primary" and "secondary" weapons, respectively. The Sapper should be referred to as occupying slot 2, and as a weapon it is a building. Spy watches occupy secondary PDAs (PDA2). -- Pilk _(talk) 17:33, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Anyone noticing the glitches......

I've noticed that nowadays when being killed or doing taunts, somehow we land up inside the bodies of the characters with our camera angles... Is this due to the hats worn? I'm quite the fan of capturing freeze cam shots and this tends to get in the way. Perhaps Valve can make a patch to rectify this glitching? - or is this just me? 1:05, 01/28/2011

TF2 Wiki Search Bar

I feel as if the search bar is hidden, away from viewer's eyes. Maybe moving it to the top of the page, making it look obvious for the user to search anything up. When they do search, the results should be clear. Maybe even add a little picture of the item they have looked up/ or trying to. This is crucial in sprucing the Wiki up. --Lance 01:41, 27 June 2011 (EDT)

Questions about vandals and admins

I'm new to TF2Wiki but I've been an editor over at Wikipedia for several years. I'm a bit lost over the differences, namely:

• How are vandals dealt with here? As far as I can tell, all that happens is that they're reverted and its hoped that they don't come back, and only if they happen to cross an admin's path are they blocked. Are there no warnings nor any place to report vandalism-only accounts for blocking?
• Does this wiki feature Rollback rights? I've found them to be highly useful over at Wikipedia for dealing with vandalism-only accounts.
• How does one apply to become an admin? The reason I have not applied for adminship over at Wikipedia (despite some other users' expressing support for the idea) is that there are always plenty of active admins.

Since this is the proposal page, I'd like to propose a page to report troll and vandal accounts for blocking (say, requiring links to three or four edits that are undeniable vandalism). If the admins think it would be a burden, I'll volunteer to help out. I would understand if it'd be trouble to incorporate rollback rights, so I won't request that. Ian.thomson 12:34, 23 October 2011 (EDT)