Koei Wiki:Style

''This page is under construction. Our members are still working out the kinks.''

This page will give an idea of how to write articles so they are consistent with many of the similar articles.

General Article Guide

 * Article title must follow the subject's official name, e.g. "Shu" instead of "Liu Bei's Forces". It must also be written in Singular instead of Plural, e.g. "Gun" instead of "Guns" - exceptions are only when the article is a List, e.g. "List of Dynasty Warriors 5 Weapons".
 * When referring to characters by name, use the name that characters generally call them in the games. Keep it as Sun Quan not the slang from Sun Ce, "Quan", or by his style name. It avoids confusion for new readers. Since Samurai Warriors characters follow a naming system more modern than Dynasty Warriors characters, there is no need to say their full name twice. This means that Hideyoshi Toyotomi can be said once in an article and be simply referred to by his first name (Hideyoshi) from then on.
 * The first sentence should be about the article's subject, and the subject has to be written in bold. It should also state what game the subject of the page is from.
 * When writing the article content, game titles should be written in italics, e.g. Samurai Warriors.
 * The definite article (the) and indefinite articles (a/an) should be avoided in article titles except if they are used as the official title.
 * Please write in third person: use "the player" instead of "you".
 * Please avoid writing abbreviations for game titles, e.g SW2:XL - it should be Samurai Warriors 2:Xtreme Legends. If you find one abbreviated please edit them and write in full.
 * Follow the official game title and use roman numerals, it's Kessen III, NOT Kessen 3.
 * Wikilinking is limited to the first occurrence of the word or phrase - i.e. don't link "Guan Yu" every time he comes up in the page.

Try to write in the Active Voice
The active voice is much stronger than the passive voice. Here is an example of a sentence in the passive voice:

Now, here is an example of that same sentence, except written in the active voice
 * Nobunaga was given a cup of wine by Cao Cao.
 * Cao Cao gives Nobunaga a cup of wine.

See how the Active Voice is much better? The person performing the action is the subject of the sentence, instead of the person or thing the action is performed on. Action is better than being!

Game characters and events are "alive" in that they are always changing, hence the need for the active voice for describing their game counterparts. Historical sections in the articles, however, use the passive voice since it describes actual events that have long since passed and will not change.

Spelling
There have in the past been edit wars over the territorial spelling of a word (i.e. words spelled differently in between Europe and the United States). We're not arrogant and we have no intention on starting a territorial war over something stupid like spelling. If you come across a word spelled the way it is in another country (for example if you see "color" spelled as "colour" or vice versa), leave it as it is. I.e. the person who inserted the word initially will decide how it's spelled.

Point of view
On most Wikis, there is a policy to give a "Neutral Point of View" (NPOV). This is not the case here when writing story sections of specific articles. The point of view MUST reflect how the events unfold from the article's subject's perspective. For everything else, the article must maintain NPOV.

Categorizing
Each article must be categorized, and done so according to which category applies to it. Here's the list of main categories at the moment.

Adding Images
Image galleries should also be used with a caption to describe each of the images it contains. To create an image gallery, use the coding below; "perrow" enables one to set how many images on a row, the default and style recommends 4. <gallery perrow="4" Image:Example.jpg|Caption here Image:Example.jpg|Caption here Image:Example.jpg|Caption here

If you're taking pictures from Koei Warriors or another website, always try to link the original source in someway. Technically, this wiki has permission to use media from the former but it's courteous to link them anyways. If the original source is from a forum, ask the uploader before using their images and link them where ever possible (like in the image's description page).

This step is very important for the images in the Real Life category since international copyrights still apply. If a museum or personal website says to not use their images, don't take them unless you asked.

To see an example for crediting for the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License, see.

Embedding Video
When embedding a video from video hosting websites such as Youtube, it is encouraged to place them inside boxes. Place a caption and the caption box will be colored according to related header - follow force specific colors or the series color. Video alignment follows viewer discretion and suitability. The coding below is an example, with those in double brackets being which parameters editors can customize.  ((Caption Title)) ((11-character Youtube Link)

What should an article have?
This depends on the page. Some things are meant for some pages.

For Games
Game articles, or the highlights of this Wiki. Each page should should have a general opening paragraph to introduce how the game is different than others. It should be divided to:
 * The Infobox, which should be filled in appropriately. The images should be the games logo, otherwise a gamebox image. The template can be found here.


 * The Gameplay, include how the game is played and talk about various features such as gaining weapons, items, skills, etc.


 * The Modes, divided into subsections on each mode in the game, explaining what they are. This section can also include any conditions for unlocking characters.


 * The Characters, listing who is playable - possibly dividing them into subsections of forces if possible.


 * Battles/Stages - mention if applicable


 * Achievements/Trophies - mention if applicable; this option is desired for titles that were ported to the next gen consoles


 * Bugs/Glitches - if there are common ones that most veteran players can spot (i.e: jumping charge glitch with Xu Huang). Keep it with the game it originates from if possible.


 * Expansions/Spin Offs brief section for the main game titles. List any or all games that uses the same visuals/animations. If there is only one type of expansion, it can be mentioned after the opening paragraph. Warriors Orochi would be counted as a spin-off for Dynasty Warriors 5 and Samurai Warriors 2.


 * Image Songs/Related Merchandise - any type of media that advertises the game in some way.


 * Allusions/Trivia, describing internal and external easter eggs/cameos between the series as well as other series within popular culture.


 * The Packaging artwork gallery for every localized version of the game.


 * External links, preferably with links to every localized version for the official site. If its a game that isn't likely to be localized, post a few videos depicting the gameplay.

For Characters
For a couple of good examples see Zhao Yun and Gracia.

Each character gets an article. Each page of a playable character should have:
 * The Infobox designed for the character's first faction/game they appear in. The image used should be their artwork from their most recent game in their main series (the Warriors series). If artwork isn't available at the moment, a recent 3D render is a fine placeholder. You can find the appropriate template here.


 * Their Role in Games, divided into subsections on each series they are involved (series not game). This section is dedicated to solely describing the character's actions in the series. It's all right to say a general characteristic about who they are but keep it simple since it can be explained in depth in the personality section. "Xu Zhu is Cao Cao's jolly-faced bodyguard" is all right but "Xu Zhu is a dimwitted, loyal, and jolly man who loves talking a lot about food and serving his lord" should be reserved for the personality section below it.


 * For history/novel fans, keep it restricted to what happens in the games themselves (during story modes, in-game dialogue, and cutscenes). Make it seem like you've just pop in the games for the first time and don't know any of the characters. Avoid adding commentary regarding a certain event based on your knowledge from the book/history. For example:
 * "Diao Chan fights for Dong Zhuo and feigns loyalty to him and Lu Bu for her own gain. She can fight with maces but, in the novel, she didn't fight and was only a songstress and concubine for the former."


 * could be written more like:


 * "Like the novel, Diao Chan poses as Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu's lover. She aims to use the latter to fulfill her own ambition."


 * State when their story contradicts their novel counterpart/history if possible but do not actively point them out. In other words, instead of writing, "Zhang Fei lives past his historical death and participates in Yi Ling", just mention that he participates in the battle and link it.


 * Again, this section talks about what the characters do in the games. Include Legend modes, dream stages, and other types of unique game events solely dedicated for the character (i.e an Okuni centered event that breaks the fourth wall in Survival Mode). If the divider is focusing on another sub-series the character has been in (Dynasty Tactics, Kessen, etc), then mentioning personality/character differences from their Warriors appearances is okay.


 * If the character has a continuously similar agenda in each title, write their overall actions shared in each title in the first paragraph and use separate paragraphs to mention the key differences between each game.


 * Character information, with subsections about their development, personality, alternate appearances, and voice actors. Notes about the character's personal ties with others can be made in the personality section. If it's a fun reaction that can easily be described in one quote (or is limited to very few occurrences/isn't strongly emphasized in the game it appears in), it may be better to place their interaction in the quote section.


 * Same with the Role in Games section, avoid heavily referencing the novel/history in here.


 * A Quotes section filled with quotes from any game - state where they say it (i.e. After killing an officer in Dynasty Warriors 5). Try to aim for short-and-sweet quotes that describe another side of the character's personality. Unique interactions found between two unlikely characters or conversations from the Warriors Orochi series are strongly encouraged to be put here. Each character will have their own Quotes page but the character's article will try to showcase some of the stronger ones.


 * Gameplay, listing their moveset in every game they appear in except in cases where the changes are minute in which case merely state it.


 * A Weapons section stating their weapon, followed by weapon tables showing their weapons from every game and then requirements and strategies for getting their ultimate weapon.


 * Historical Information stating what their actual role was in history and naming any significant points in their life or personal info. Don't mention the games or make comparisons with the novel here since readers can compare for themselves what is different/the same. As long as it's relevant for their historical information, go crazy since length isn't an issue. Include any actual portraits, statues, or whatever for the character to better distinguish it from the game related sections. Keep the picture count to a minimum though (maybe one for short sections and two for longer ones). For the Japanese characters, the Japanese name order (family name then given name) can be freely used here.


 * Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Tales of Heike, etc. - implement where ever applicable. Highlight events or character notes that are contradictory to the previously mentioned sections (like Guan Yu's ghost killing Lu Meng). Don't mention the games or too much historical information here; it's disruptive for describing the original story.


 * A Gallery, pictures with the different appearances in/between games; alternate outfits created for the Warriors Orochi series applies here too.


 * A Trivia section, describing any popular culture references or other notes from fans around the world. The place for any fan related notes or popular memes.

For Generics
Many of the same ideas carry over for the generic officers though a few alterations are made.
 * Infobox - same as before but carry a different infobox code (you'll see it as:Template:Infobox ___ NPC here). If they don't have artwork from the Warriors titles, an image from the sub-series appearances like Romance of the Three Kingdoms games or Kessen is suitable. If they appear in the Warriors games, use the unit type pages (linked in the infobox template) to describe which generic type they are.


 * Role in Games - same as before. If their role is minor or basically made for one game, separate it with paragraphs rather than the using separators for each series. Don't use the divider ( ===Dynasty Warriors=== ) if it's just to say that they appear as reinforcements in one battle in one series. Include any notes about their personality in here.


 * Character Info - since most NPCs don't have any particularly distinguishing traits, just include the voice actors in their own section. If you don't know them or if they aren't voiced, then move onto the next section.


 * Quotes - striving for unique lines they say rather than the usual meet, defeated in battle, or praise quotes. If they don't have any, then don't include this section.


 * Historical Information - same as before. Skip this section if they have little available historical info (like Gao Lan) or are a fictional character (like Zhou Cang).


 * Romance of the Three Kingdoms - same as before. If you can remember, try mentioning the specific chapters they appear in.


 * Gallery section if they appear in more than one series.

On the off chance that a NPC character is made a playable character in the Warriors titles, then switch the template to reflect the change. Adjust whatever changes were made to the character. Don't forget to change the categories as well.

For Battles
Say the main conflict and purpose of the battle in the opening paragraph. Also note whether it historically happened in the opening paragraph.


 * Infobox - has a unique template that can be found here. Fill in what you readily can. The thumbnail image should try to depict a memorable image from the battlefield.


 * Role in Games - same as before in the character section; try to include all possible sides of the battle from each game and not just the "winning/historical" side.


 * Historical Information - Try to describe the the actual setting and role during the estimated time frame set in the games. Skip this section if its not applicable in anyway (like a few of the Warriors Orochi stages).


 * Romance of the Three Kingdoms, etc. - add where its applicable. Try to list specific chapters if you can remember.


 * Gallery section to feature different aspects of the battle area not featured in the infobox picture.

For Items
State what it is and from which series it appears in. Give a brief description of what the item does and its physical characteristics (unless it has a picture or you can upload one). If applicable, try to include a few sentences -or a sub section if it's lengthy like Red Hare or Hex Mark- that states any historical/fictional significance it has. It should then be followed by these sections:


 * How to Obtain (in any game that it appears in)


 * Suggested Use (such as offensive players may like Survival scroll, or green scroll/power rune, but defensive may not)
 * Suggested characters to use on.
 * suggested characters not to use on.