Mecha Talk

Is it feasible to add development charts to the website? I know it'd work very well for Gundam, but I'm not sure about other series.

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Patrick Lau <ZGMF-X20A>
Knights of the Round

You mean development charts like Astraea > Exia > 00 Gundam type deal? If that's what you're referring to, I really don't see the point. Particularly with Gundam, you're opening up a whole new can of worms there in regards to how canonical something is. Where would you draw the line for something like that, especially when the animation is the only thing truly canon. Then there's the issue of constant new additions to development charts. Look how Astray is still adding suits related to the Strike and the Astrays...

Honestly I like how everything is divided by series. If there's overlap between series, it is mentioned in profiles. That's really all I think that's necessary. In my opinion creating developments charts would take too much effort and particularly for Gundam, be far too subjective to really be a meaningful addition to the site.

Also why is this a poll? This is entirely Chris's decision.

Key point there, particularly when you have various sources saying various things (In UC, for example, how things develop seem to change on a monthly basis). I too fail to see the point of having charts since, ignoring the large amount of effort it would take to make accurate ones and keep them up to dat with current official standings (In Gundam, at least), it's often pretty clear just by reading profiles or stuff like that. Having charts that explain it all just seems like an extra that really isn't worth while.

And yes, the poll is useless, as it'll be Chris' choice in the end. If he wants to do it, it gets done. If he doesn't, it doesn't happen. Simple as that.

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I don't know about family-tree style charts -- it's hard to do, as some come out of 'nowhere' and others have dozens of children (the variants on the Zaku II, for instance).

What I would like to see, if Chris got ambitious, is more links between related mecha, such as (using Wiki coding)...

"Development after the RX-78-2 took several branches, including the [[RX-78[G] Ground Type]], the [[RX-78NT-1 (Alex)]], and the [[GP Line]], as well as the [[RX-178 Mark II]]."

or

"The influence of the Zaku II can also be seen in the designs of enemy grunt mecha in every non-UC Gundam series from the [[Aries]] in Gundam Wing, the [[Death's Army]] in G-Gundam... and the [[Tieren]] in Gundam 00."

(neither of these is meant to be complete, only examples).

This is a big undertaking, and I don't expect this to happen. What might be worth considering is enhancing the material on Wikipedia as a community effort -- it's shoddy and inconsistent, and often missing information presented on MAHQ. Chris could then pick and choose what information to include on MAHQ, if he desired.

Development charts for UC, aside from being a lot of work, would be very problematic. What do you put in them? Do you draw the line where Sunrise does on what's "official," i.e., only those that are animated? Do you make multiple charts (anime only, manga/books included)? How do you keep it all straight when there's always some new, hitherto unknown variation of something popping up? No, that would all be too convoluted and not territory I want to step into.



This definitely wouldn't work on MAHQ, as all the profiles are written from an "in-universe" perspective. Originally, Burke wrote everything from a Turn A perspective, but I decided to drop that because it became too cumbersome and gave people the wrong impression that everything was linked.

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"What did catch my eye, however, was a podcast named Gundamn!. At first I thought it was a podcast about firearms and [rednecks] discussing their collection, but after looking at the episode titles I was sold." - Xhavalor

PSN: amuromsz006

I used the poll to merely see what people thought of the idea.

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Patrick Lau <ZGMF-X20A>
Knights of the Round

Makes sense -- that's something I'd never particularly noticed.

Well, then, if someone wanted to build something like development charts off in Wikipedia, how do you feel about links into MAHQ?

I have no objection, and after all, how could I object to who links to me? I wouldn't really bother much with Wikipedia since there's always someone trying to delete anime content, and awhile back someone managed to get a lot of Gundam stuff deleted. It'd be wasted effort better spent on a private site or something else like the Gundam Wikia.

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"What did catch my eye, however, was a podcast named Gundamn!. At first I thought it was a podcast about firearms and [rednecks] discussing their collection, but after looking at the episode titles I was sold." - Xhavalor

PSN: amuromsz006

Actually, I might just do that. Wikipedia, why didn't I think of it earlier. lol

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Patrick Lau <ZGMF-X20A>
Knights of the Round

You'd be surprised at people who object to linking to other than the home page of a site -- they claim it robs them of ad dollars and guiding your navigation to where they want you to go.

Looks like plau may take the lead at Wikipedia, I may follow and contribute. I haven't browsed the Gundam Wikia much, but you're right, the Wikipedia stuff has gotten pruned way back. Considering the number of Wikipedia pages dedicated to Doctor Who, LOST or Star Trek, it seems silly to draw the line at anime.