Talk: Admins

Revision as of 14:28, 7 February 2014

Please use this space to contact an Admin. All Admins should have this page on their watchlist. And, please, sign your messages! --The Admins

Startpage Menu Reform needed badly!

I wrote it 1-2 years ago, nothing happened, same old useless oversized space-wasting menu is here. I suggest the following: 1. the TOV logo needs to be half size at least, way too big! 2. Menu reform: Reduce number of main items,

MERGE into Userguides: Equipment, Monsters, Spells, Zones
Goal is to reduce the 8 main items to 4 and reduce the height of the menu!
CLASSES - QUESTS - TRADESKILL - USERGUIDES is all that should remain
the 4 sub-pages need to be remade to look better and be more helpful
I suggest putting the most useful Timelines right into the Quests sub-page
one goal is also to make the NEWS section even visible by reducing the height of the above stuff

Rittmeister64 (talk) 14:26, February 7, 2014 (UTC)

Happy Frostfell!

Beastlords and Template:User_Subclass

Am I correct in that Template:User_Subclass doesn't have support for Beastlords yet? -- Donhead (talk) 07:15, August 24, 2012 (UTC)

fixed --Uberfuzzy (talk) 10:26, August 24, 2012 (UTC)

Yay, no more error message! Now, if only it came with a pretty icon, like all the other classes do.. =) -- Donhead (talk) 15:06, August 24, 2012 (UTC)

Waypoints Broken (Chrome)

Waypoints right click option have stopped working in chrome for some reason - haven't tried other browsers

Probably related to a Java update. Waypoints and tabbed browsing stopped working for me for a couple weeks, but they started working again after awhile. Jeff (talk|stalk) 05:51, August 29, 2012 (UTC)

No, its not Java, nor is it chrome. We dont use any java here (you should actually disable java in your browser unless you absolutely need it, but thats a whole different websec rant). Its a combination of a bunch of hacky code stuffs (to work in soe's old browser that is now dead) aging and falling apart. We are aware of it, and I think I have a fix. Just need to get a little time run some cross browser tests before I risk breaking the things I need to change. --Uberfuzzy (talk) 10:43, August 29, 2012 (UTC)

I think its "fixed". I use that word loosely. You have to right click on it (not left click) for it to work. Though I think you had to do that before. I'll fiddle with the click events a bit more to see if I can finally eliminate that "feature" too. I tested it in Chrome, ingame-sortof-Chrome, and Firefox. (My IE is a bit broken right now because of a work project) --Uberfuzzy (talk) 02:12, September 5, 2012 (UTC)

category redlinks

i just found out that in monobook skin, links to non-existing categories will show as normal 'blue' links, instead of red, to indicate they are missing. although they do show up as red first time in edit mode for example: Category:Red links are not red links, are they?
after further testing my guess would be that they are red links till there are no pages in the cat, and turn blue after they do..? Category:asd.... strange though that in the other skin all of them are red links --Vraeth (talk) 15:07, September 9, 2012 (UTC)

Try it now. It looks like mediawiki uses two different classes for those links depending on if the category is empty or not... if it's an empty (uncreated) page but has items then it used the "newcategory" class which wasn't styled in Monobook to be a redlink; I've added that styling so it should show it red now. --lordebon (talk) 15:40, September 9, 2012 (UTC)

now red is red, thank you :) --Vraeth (talk) 15:54, September 9, 2012 (UTC)

Hey all, Brasse the Dwarf here... any chance one of your fine folks could contact me for a wee conversation? Drop me a note at lmcarlson@soe.sony.com I'll have beer waiting!

-)#

Brasse here!

Let me try again... fumbly Dwarf fingers neglected to add the sekrit tilde signs!

Hey all, it's Brasse the Dwarf here, yer friendly neighborhood SOE Community Director. Can someone large and in charge at EQ2i drop me a line at lmcarlson@soe.sony.com? Would like to have a wee conversation... I'll have beer ready!

-)#

Linda "Brasse" Carlson Director, Global Community Relations Sony Online Entertainment

Here we go, four tildes as ordered: 64.37.167.178 00:39, September 13, 2012 (UTC)

Private email contact arriving in 3...2...--Kodia (talk) 12:39, September 13, 2012 (UTC)

Any info on what this is about, Kodia? --lordebon (talk) 23:20, September 19, 2012 (UTC)

As soon as we get some final confirmations and permissions and whatnot, you betcha. In a world of bad news going on, I can confirm this is some really nice news. Stay tuned.--Kodia (talk) 01:15, September 20, 2012 (UTC)

Okay now that it's official, we've announced it. SOE has awarded Eq2i the status of "Official Wiki Community of EverQuest II" and we've updated the news pages to tell everyone about it.--Kodia (talk) 16:37, October 10, 2012 (UTC)

New In-Game Browser issues

Does not remember EQ2i login. Need to log in every single time I start the game new. I know, it's most likely SOE fault, but in case somebody knows how to "fix" it ...

I'll see what I can do by dropping a few clues into the right ears. No guarantees of course, but maybe we can see what's possible, eh? Cheers! --Kodia (talk) 22:37, September 20, 2012 (UTC)

Copy & Paste of waypoints does no longer work! I used to just click the blue boxes that appear after waypoints and copy them into the EQ2 chatwindow. Now I have to mark the actual waypoint data, go to my EQ2 chat, type "/wa" followed by CTRL-V. It's not very comfortable to say the least. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rittmeister64 (talk • contribs)

Is anyone else having this problem? I haven't had any trouble with this.--Kodia (talk) 03:12, October 7, 2012 (UTC)

I checked it in Firefox - it works there! but not in-game!Rittmeister64 (talk) 16:57, October 10, 2012 (UTC)

Now it works in-game browser too... Either I was braindead, or they fixed it now. click the box, CTRL-C, click into chat, CTRL-V. Rittmeister64 (talk) 22:25, October 10, 2012 (UTC)

Excellent. Glad to hear it's working. We'll keep testing things on our end too in a variety of configurations and we encourage anyone else who is having these problems, even intermittently, to speak up.--Kodia (talk) 01:01, October 11, 2012 (UTC)

Well, today I had some problems again with marking the box - when you try CTRL-C often I just get a windows error audio signal like a ping, and it does not copy the waypoint. I think it has to do with the clipboard buffer not being empty, or something like it. Suddenly it can work again, if you try multiple times or CTRL-V, CTRL-C a few times into chatbox.Rittmeister64 (talk) 06:07, October 12, 2012 (UTC)

I nailed the bug down: when you try to copy a waypoint but just get an error-signal, you can click in chat and CTRL-V, and then immidiately select the waypoint box and CTRL-C works then. I assume it's an error that has to do with a "full" clipboard. Rittmeister64 (talk) 07:25, October 14, 2012 (UTC)

Ooh. Okay that's an interesting test. I'm going to see if I have the same issue the next time I log in. Thank you for tracking that down on your end. If anyone else finds this problematic, please speak up.--Kodia (talk) 15:23, October 14, 2012 (UTC)

no problem though when I use right mousebutton. it only bugs out when using left mb.(which people generally do)Rittmeister64 (talk) 23:10, October 15, 2012 (UTC)

Return and Enter keys don't work in the ingame-browser when you edit a page. Rittmeister64 (talk) 16:49, October 10, 2012 (UTC)
- Yeah, there is some funkyness happening, but its not consistently happening. I'll do some more in-game testing soon, and get some bug data fired off to people. One huge advantage of today's announcement is we can push both Wikia and SOE to get their software working better together :) --Uberfuzzy (talk) 18:44, October 10, 2012 (UTC)

Hot zone rotation

I know that the Hot Zone information says that it is currently impossible to verify the rotation. However, in the interest of getting a better read on where they actually are, I am pretty certain that they are simply one step behind. Several days of monitoring the hot zones has yielded results that indicate the hot zones (zones dropping more than usual amounts of fableds) seem to be whichever zone shows up on this list the following day. If someone could just edit the rotation and bump it up one day (i.e. the 19th Oct showed TSO zone as Spirits Resonance, and the 20th Oct Library of Erudin, but the net results of fableds dropping seem to have shown that Spirits was the 18th, and Library was the 19th.)

Paddyo/Elven Elite/AB.

Thanks for monitoring this, Paddyo. We appreciate it. It's been a while since I updated this section (I'll have to go dig to remember where the original code is, to be honest), but we'll try to have someone take a look at it as soon as possible.--Kodia (talk) 20:55, October 22, 2012 (UTC)

I'm usually pretty skeptical of anecdotal evidence for statistics in MMOs in general, but since there's no way to verify it officially anymore and it's a relatively low impact thing I've updated the display to bump the TSO and SF hot zones forward one zone. --lordebon (talk) 13:47, October 23, 2012 (UTC)

Agreed on the logic and the impact. I think it might help though. Thanks for taking care of this. I forgot to leave a message on your talk page mentioning it. My bad. :)--Kodia (talk) 13:00, October 24, 2012 (UTC)

No worries, I'm not very active when it comes to basic page adding but I still try to keep an eye on things on the admin / template side. Now that the tweaks to the page layout have gone live from wikia I plan on taking another look at the site background as well, see if I can come up with something CoE or Velious based. --lordebon (talk) 16:02, October 24, 2012 (UTC)

Naming and structuring CoE

Hi all, just took a first shot at getting a direction on signature timeline and quests. maybe we can agree on how to do the naming as it seems to be a bit difficult with this GU. The signature questline does not really have a naming afaik, could be Shades of Drinal, CoE access or other - not sure about it. As it is quite lengthy due to all the required subquests which are not flagged signature a specific timeline would be useful to help people who want to do just the stuff required for the access but not the (though not too much of it) fluff on the side. This separation might be difficult to show on the 2 overland zone timelines. Any ideas or recommendations?--Xinturaia (talk) 11:49, November 15, 2012 (UTC)

Shades of Drinal seems a good choice to me, since it's the the prefix for all the quests and we've used those prefixes before as the timeline names. --lordebon (talk) 14:32, November 15, 2012 (UTC)

Can we put a note on the timeline that explains why we chose the name please? That would go a long way to helping people understand that some of our choices happen because SOE doesn't really give us clear cut options in the newer information.--Kodia (talk) 18:00, November 15, 2012 (UTC)

i will give it a try with both your feedback, we can still change it ;) --Xinturaia (talk) 22:50, November 15, 2012 (UTC)

maybe take a look and change or comment as necessary --Xinturaia (talk) 08:54, November 16, 2012 (UTC)

I like it. short, simple, doesn't get in the way. I did a little tweaking, but otherwise it was a great start. Thank you.--Kodia (talk) 13:05, November 16, 2012 (UTC)

it does get a bit more due to the huge amount of quest stuff but i try to keep it as clean as possible but still giving a good picture - still work in progress (i would like to make an option to show/hide the details (like for "spoilers" but i dont know the templates/commands) --Xinturaia (talk) 14:14, November 19, 2012 (UTC)

Chains of Eternity inconsistencies

A few items:

Are we using "LU65" or "Chains of Eternity" for the "patch" name when adding a quest? There seems to be some confusion here. When decided, please make sure the templates are updated.

Currently, the templates are set to use "Obol Planes" instead of "Obol Plains" (slight difference in spelling), can this please be corrected?

For the Shades of Drinal quests (the ones that actually have "Shades of Drinal" in the quest title), should they be under the zone's timeline (The Eidolon Jungle Timeline and Obol Plains Timeline, or under the Shades of Drinal Timeline?

Thanks! -- Donhead (talk) 01:30, November 17, 2012 (UTC)

I believe the standard used in the past for the update has been whether or not content is locked to an expansion. Anything in the new Ethernere zones would count as "Chains of Eternity" but anything introduced in the GU that is not locked to the expansion (for example, if they also revamped a newbie zone) would get the LU65 classifier. We've always had consistency issues on this however, so seeing more of the same is to be expected (and, as a relatively minor point, isn't worth losing much sleep over).

I've corrected the Obol Plains preload to the correct spelling. For the Shades of Drinal line, I'd suggest using the Shades timeline for all the quests required for that, for all the rest that aren't required the zone timeline should be fine. It's going to be a bit messy either way unfortunately since the signature quest walks you through from quest camp to quest camp. --lordebon (talk) 16:23, November 17, 2012 (UTC)

It appears as though "szone" (as well as the name of the template itself) is still mis-spelled as "Planes". -- Donhead (talk) 19:18, November 18, 2012 (UTC)

Fixed. --lordebon (talk) 21:02, November 18, 2012 (UTC)

For the Shades of Drinal questline i created a seperate Timeline Shades of Drinal Timeline to show just the signature part - work in progress. but it does not hurt to list the parts of Shades of Drinal also in the respective zones for completeness (especially as with this expansion most of the quests are part of this questline anyway). so both for someone who wants to work through the zone and another one just doing the signature an overview will be available --Xinturaia (talk) 13:34, November 19, 2012 (UTC)

making new Instance pages

when creating a new page for an instance that has several version, do you want 1 master page to include all the info about the various version, or an individual page for each version?

example: http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Wurmbone%27s_End

currently I added the info for Advanced Solo to the "Wurmbone's End" main page. - or should I create a "Wurmbone's End [Advanced Solo] page to contain that info?

As each version of the instance is a bit different (different quests, different mobs/named mobs, different strategies), I would think a "disambig" page with separate pages for each version would be the way to go. My 2¢. -- Donhead (talk) 22:53, November 19, 2012 (UTC)

Green Adornment slots

I started to enter the rewards for the new Worldly Possessions quest, and when I previewed it, the green slot wasn't visible in the generated picture. I'm going to assume that when the equipment template is updated for this that the correct tag will be "greenslot = x|" and put in the rest of the rewards. Let me know if I need to update with something different.

--Morlane (talk) 01:56, November 20, 2012 (UTC)

personally (no admin here!) I think we could skip the tedious editing of the stats when a screenshot of the stats is uploaded (either or). It wont show up say in a list of all 130 int rings, but seriously who cares. But yes the FORM needs to be updated to the new gear of course. But editing this mess of stat items surely scares a lot of users away. I sure hate it. Remember - this is supposed to be collecting info for a game, not learning a new coding language.Rittmeister64 (talk) 02:41, November 20, 2012 (UTC)

While not showing up on a list of rings might not be an issue, it also would not show up on a list of class usable items, or items that give Mitigation Increase, etc ... which might be more of an issue for users of the wiki. Nobody says any particular user has to enter all the item stats. I've noticed just this evening that a lot folks are putting in quest details, but only listing the names of the item rewards. I don't mind entering the item data (that's mostly what I do, in fact.) I just want the template to work. :) --Morlane (talk) 02:52, November 20, 2012 (UTC)

I would lean against the entering of a bunch of stats at this point. With the SOE data feeds providing the vast majority of this information in a typo-free and instant-update basis, I think hand-entering the item-specific data is going to very soon be the outdated way of getting information into this Wiki. Probably more important at this point is the item link, so that people can preview it in game, or the correctly spelled name, so that people can look it up via the SOE data feeds (perhaps making use of a site like EQ2U). Additionally, how to get the item is going to be important, as this information isn't currently available via the SOE data feeds.

I believe User:Uberfuzzy was working on some sort of way of getting SOE data feed information into Wikia, as it was mentioned in a different thread (see Forum:EQ2i is the Official EQ2 Community Wiki). -- Donhead (talk) 07:31, November 20, 2012 (UTC)

i way to get the raw information without typing it would be great. either by a link for the item or whatever way is possible. i would still prefer a page for the item, as - i agree with you Donhead - the how to get, related quest etc., probalby picture when equipped might all be good info to be added and not be available otherwise. unfortunately thats way above my programming skills to implement but i would like to have item pages where only by entering the item id all available stuff is either filled automatically, retreived on open or working through a link. that would leave only the other stuff to be added manually --Xinturaia (talk) 11:17, November 20, 2012 (UTC)

any update on this? i see only 2 greens are listed so far, i could add a bunch of names but how do we want to do it with the stats? they lvl from 1-10 and gain different stuff each level. Is it really important what it has per level or maybe we do it like http://advancedmod.com/EQ2/GreenAdorns.html just the added up stats at lvl 10? That might be sufficient - plus the requirement to level as so far i found greens leveling from just adventuring xp and some only leveling on ethernere mobs (which seems to be limited to CoE open zones and instances there (no time to check all instances so far). If adapting the template is too much trouble atm we could at least add the stats into the notes section as well as the increases per lvl - or by sceenshot. --Xinturaia (talk) 11:49, December 3, 2012 (UTC)

I've updated the Template:EquipInformation at 26-11-2012 to show the Green Adornment slots, I will take a look into Template:AdornInformation2 to show the Level information of the Green Adornments. Anything else i should consider about it? -- 11:57, December 3, 2012 (UTC)

i think the question is not fully answered yet - 1) do we want to show the green stuff only fully leveled (like in the link i posted above) which makes it easier to compare and probably no more work on the template or do we want to show it like ingame with all the additions that happen per level seperately? That would still require the summary though, is a hell of work both to put in and adapt the template and tbh i think not worth the effort. So i tend to do it like in the link. 2) I am unsure about the quality as well as they start as (i think) handcrafted or treasured but i was told they gain until mythical at lvl 10 (unconfirmed). What do we put in? starting quality? lvl10 quality? put a range into the template (start/end)? 3) what definitely needs to be added is a "levels by" where you can put the options on what it levels (maybe even defined categories). I have seen so far: levels on damage, levels on adv xp gain, lvls on killing Ethernere creatures --Xinturaia (talk) 07:58, December 4, 2012 (UTC)

or in short my proposal: 1) show them fully leveled (that is what counts), the specific per level info can be added in comments or screenshot. It is a pita to add the 10 lines to see what it ends up with. 2) add to the template a line on what the ado levels up. That should solve the issue for now, give the relevant information easily and not create too much template changes --Xinturaia (talk) 09:22, December 5, 2012 (UTC)

Edit: i think some green ado stats are missing in the template

a) the x% max HP

b) x% weapon damage bonus

c) spellweapon dps

d) spell weapon multiattack

e) spell reuse speed (ability reuse exists, but afaik is different. maybe thats missing in the equipment template as well)

f) spell weapon attack speed.

I hope thats it so far. --Xinturaia (talk) 11:45, December 5, 2012 (UTC)

I would show the item twice .. on the same article page prolly ain't that perfect but i guess i would work.
Once to show the information as Level 1 and below to show the item as Level10 that way we don't have a problem if adornment chances from Treasurd to fabled or what ever
I gonna update the Template during the weekend, i got 2 or 3 green adornments from the quests and i wanna get those into the wiki .. i can add parameters where needed then too.
Spell reuse speed and ability reuse speed are in the equipment template ... the difference is that spell reuse doesn't effect Combat arts reuse speed
-- 13:25, December 7, 2012 (UTC)

I've update the Template:AdornInformation2, 17 parameters got added or extended the sorting of them is now like the Equipment is sorted.

weapon damage bonus .. oh ..i guess i missed that one lol, gonna add it but i would need to know at which postion should i add it? a other blue stat before it or after it?

i will do the rest .. later :) when i know i didn't break it that much :)

--

thx alot for all the work. just a question, where or with what parameter do i put in the stuff the adornment levels on? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Xinturaia (talk • contribs)

i need to add that information to the template still, i didn't want to break it to much while i'm on a unstable connection. -- 11:49, December 8, 2012 (UTC)

levelinfo is the parameter to show the effects the adornment get's with each spiritlevel. I tryed to add the levelbar but it didn't work that well, i have to play around with it a little to make it work. -- 09:42, December 10, 2012 (UTC)

thx for all the work. i think i have most of the greens on now, from the stats only the weapon damage is missing (i don't even know what it does ingame ;) ). Let me know if i should try around with the effects/spiritlevel/bar) --Xinturaia (talk) 06:52, December 13, 2012 (UTC)

weapon Damage works like dps but as own stat

The leveleffects work if you use the parameter levelinfo

I checked one or two green adornments ingame but i forgot to take screenshot of it so i'm unsure how it should look like. So i would need a screenshot of one Adornment at least o i can adjust the template

--

12:44, December 13, 2012 (UTC)

here is a try, although its from the German client --(way too big, i post it on your talk page) Xinturaia (talk) 22:44, December 13, 2012 (UTC)

I revamped the template to effect the current ingame look, i checked, green slot, normal white slot and a warrune. I think it's matching the ingame look pretty good now. -- 17:30, January 3, 2013 (UTC)

wikia lag

having big problems since about 4 days posting to wikia, pages don't load, have to reload several times often, and publishing just times out sometimes. Is this a periodical issue that tends to go away? Are there server capacities stretched beyond usability? I hope it get's better again. They're making money after all from the users work via ad-revenue. Rittmeister64 (talk) 12:27, November 21, 2012 (UTC)

wikia server lag and stalled page-loads are getting ridiculous. You can hardly make 2 edits without having to reload or re-post a page. I was thinking about trying my hands on my own wiki here, but this lag makes me to question whether wikia is the right place for it if this lag goes on. (the idea that they own all rights to do with our content whatever they come up with - like selling it off commercially for guides etc. is another point.) Rittmeister64 (talk) 17:39, November 22, 2012 (UTC)

There have been issues with lag in the past, but I haven't been seeing much of any lately. Are any other pages (outside of wikia) loading slowly at all? If so, there might be a regional bottleneck that is causing the loading issues rather than an issue with wikia itself. You can test it in widows by using the tracert command in the command prompt; if you see high latencies or timeouts at any hop other than the end then it's likely a bottleneck along the route to wikia. --lordebon (talk) 02:11, November 23, 2012 (UTC)

badges

do we really need these badges on the wiki? i could live without them for sure :P --Vraeth (talk) 20:53, November 21, 2012 (UTC)

I think they encourage some people to bring more content, which is a good thing for sure. It's not hard to just ignore the badges when you do not like them Rittmeister64 (talk) 17:18, November 22, 2012 (UTC)

well if i can disable the popups just for myself, tell me where ;) --Vraeth (talk) 17:27, November 22, 2012 (UTC)

Just like in game, its in the options. here then "Advanced display options", check the "Hide my achievements on my profile from everybody" box. That also kills the popups for you. --Uberfuzzy (talk) 01:02, November 26, 2012 (UTC)

yay, thanks! :) --Vraeth (talk) 07:20, November 26, 2012 (UTC)

Waypoints

could we implement waypoints like at ZAM - meaning you only need to left click them to copy them into the clipboard? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rittmeister64 (talk • contribs) 14:08, November 22, 2012 (UTC)

It's something we'd like to do, however I haven't been able to find a good way to do it on EQ2i yet. The clipboard is somewhat protected so there's not an easy way to just have something "copy" on a click (without using Flash, which is a whole 'nother can of worms and is what Zam uses). --lordebon (talk) 02:17, November 23, 2012 (UTC)

Its added to my immediate idea list. I think I can finally make it work, now that the ingame browser supports flash. --Uberfuzzy (talk) 01:04, November 26, 2012 (UTC)

EQ2i Theme (wikia theme)

Could we change the color-scheme to "wikia police" [1] (the white/yellow text on marine-blue background) please? I think the white wiki is a turnoff to modern gamers, and a darker background is also better on the eyes, and it looks cooler. I'd love if it was possible to have several color-schemes selectable like you can select templates at your Preferences, but wikia probably does not offer this. Rittmeister64 (talk) 04:26, November 23, 2012 (UTC)

Wikia doesn't offer the multiple template option (it's just the current "wikia" skin and the monobook fallback). I'm not so sure on the colored background either (black on white works just fine for most, we'd need a large majority wanting a different to make it the default) but if you want to change it for yourself there's always your personal wikia.css (available at User:YourUserName/wikia.css) where you can override the default CSS with your own. It's not as easy as the skin customizer but it's the only real options for changing skin on a per-user basis as of now. --lordebon (talk) 15:00, November 23, 2012 (UTC)

Promoting EQ2i for more editors in the forum(s)

I think some1 should post (and bump) at the official EQ2 forums to raise interest in joining the wiki. point out how fun it is, and that aquiring wiki skills is good for your resumé, etc... EQ2i really needs more active people, considering that ZAM pretty much had the whole questline from beta testers online already while we're still adding stuff 2 weeks after release. I don't feel I'm the right person to do this at the forums since I'm a controversial asshole there. Rittmeister64 (talk) 04:13, November 23, 2012 (UTC)

I regularly talk up EQ2i on the official EQ2 forums, and remind people that if they see something wrong or missing, FIX IT. The problem is that most actual players never look at the forums, though they often use EQ2i. RadarX has been promoting Wiki editing officially of late. --Sigrdrifa (talk) 15:07, October 18, 2013 (UTC)

Weekly staff writers & Table of Contents

To make the startpage of EQ2i more appealing I recommend we write (weekly) articles about what's currently going on in EQ2i - Heroes Festival, Double SC events, Moonlight Enchantment, or a more generic article highlighting some useful stuff (totems, Adornments, caps, etc) and display them with a big scrolling (javascript) window. Below this news-box should be a condensed-down TOC. The current one with the 8 round pictures and subsections is way too complex. We should pick the more useful stuff out (like. Classes - GUIDES - Timelines ) and put the rest into a sub-menu (esp. all the Category/Database mishmash like "monsters" "equipment"... which has no neat presentation but is simply a huge list)... Rittmeister64 (talk) 16:15, November 25, 2012 (UTC)

IMO that distracts from what the wiki is (a living repository of information on everything EQ2) and tries to make it into more of an EQ2 news site (of which there are already several). We use the "News" area already to communicate about current events... although with no special heads-up notice, some of the "surprise" SC sales and whatnot can get missed... maybe that's something 'fuzzy and Kodia can work on with their link to SOE.

I do like the idea of taking another look at the TOC. I'm not sure about cutting it down so much as trying to rework it so that we can highlight current important info somewhere (e.g., the major timeline(s) for the current game update). I also would like to see more prominent guides on things that aren't being covered elsewhere, like a guide for green adornments or a general guide to zone access in CoE. We might be able to hit two birds with one stone if we come up with a "featured" area on the TOC for timelines and guides that are pertinent. Ultimately we still need the guides to be written before they can be featured or anything, of course. Also, when it comes to using too much javascript and extra menus we have to be very careful, we don't want the main page to get excessively busy or, even worse, end up breaking in the in-game browser. --lordebon (talk) 17:05, November 25, 2012 (UTC)

yes, instead of "news" you could make weekly highlights of the most useful stuff.

I like all the timelines, then just yesterday I found the "totems" list (by "accident" since it showed up in the recent changes list - also quite useful, deities page is also very presentable, or stuff people don't even know exists - like the "collection quests timeline". etc. and of course tweak down the TOC a bit - put the generic stuff all in one section (monsters gear etc).

anyway, i think the wiki needs a more modern presentation, right now it looks like a MUD from the 80's, no wonder people are more willing to contribute to ZAM than here. Rittmeister64 (talk) 17:46, November 25, 2012 (UTC)

While all your suggestions are good ones we should consider, I'd like you to think about how you say them. Please understand we're ALL volunteers here, most with very busy jobs, who DONATE their time freely. ZAM has LOTS of paid staff. We're all doing this out of the goodness of our hearts. --Kodia (talk) 19:06, November 25, 2012 (UTC)

yeah, sorry I did not mean to sound mean or anything. all things considered - when Zam guys are getting paid, they're actually pretty weak compared to this wiki. EQ2i has many topics covered much better. We should put spotlights on the best ones regulary. Rittmeister64 (talk) 19:35, November 25, 2012 (UTC)

Silly. ZAM may have LOTS of paid staff, but they only have two staff on EQ2, and they both work on other games too. They're just really dedicated.:)

The Duality / Erus / Dartain

another mess i would like to clean up ;) we have alot of that NPC now in game, most links going to The Duality (which is the one in Paineel atm. Even this (related to the picture posted) is not named correctly as it should be Dartain. But that one is used for the one in Neriak. There are more versions in Thurgadin, Feerrott, Neriak, Jarsath, Obol Plains etc. which i think should be checked for correct naming and seperated like Dartain (JW), Dartain (OP) etc and a disamig to (rule) show them all. I know alot of quests mention them like "return to The Duality" but this could be taken care of with either explanation or using i.e. The Duality. Any opinions on this? --Xinturaia (talk) 09:53, November 26, 2012 (UTC)

Unless they changed it so that he no longer swaps names in-game between Dartain and Al'Kabor, the NPC page should probably stay as "The Duality" (regardless of whichever disambiguation we add on the end). My suggestion would be have Dartain and Al'Kabor redirect to a The Duality disambig and then have the individual zone disambiguated pages for it like The Duality (OP). --lordebon (talk) 18:47, November 26, 2012 (UTC)

i think it still uses different names for him. Still with regards to our policy i think it should be changed to what is shown in game. For monsters and NPCs, articles should match exactly what appears over the monster's head, not what appears in the log files. EverQuest_2_Wiki:Policy/Naming. Any other opinions? --Xinturaia (talk) 08:02, November 27, 2012 (UTC)

even the name above head is still changing. look at the 2 pictures on the right side of The Duality page --Vraeth (talk) 08:58, November 27, 2012 (UTC)

exactly, but that is still not in line with the naming policy and to my knowledge only happens in SF expansion. In DoV and CoE the name seems to be consistent at a specific location (although there are a lot locs).--Xinturaia (talk) 09:28, November 27, 2012 (UTC)

I'm almost certain the DoV Duality in thurg changes back and forth as well. One thing I didn't consider before is in-game linking UIs... for their sake it's probably better to pick one, that way they'll end up right at least half the time and we can handle the other with a redirect. In this case Dartain is fine for where it changes, he was the original physical body after all, we can just link it as [[Dartain (OP)|The Duality]] and such and just have Al'Kabor redirect to a Dartain disambig page. Before making any Al'Kabor pages we should make absolute sure that it doesn't shift though; the shift time is longer than most people talk to the NPC for, which might explain why some are only seeing one name. --lordebon (talk) 15:28, November 27, 2012 (UTC)

the concept you are proposing sounds good to me, having a disambig page for The Duality seems to be the best option, it could disambig to both Alkabor and Dartain pages or at least give more explanation. I will try to put an alt into Thurgadin and Paineel during the holidays to check when im bored ;). thx for the feedback and ideas --Xinturaia (talk) 08:53, December 3, 2012 (UTC)

the duality in feerrott does shift. didnt check the others yet --Vraeth (talk) 09:19, December 3, 2012 (UTC)

thx a lot for the confirmation. I will think about a setup including what we already have. --Xinturaia (talk) 11:11, December 4, 2012 (UTC)

Does anyone have any lore about how Al'Kabor and Dartain became The Duality? I was thinking that the neatest way to do things would be to make The Duality a general info and lore page, redirect Al'Kabor and Dartain to The Duality (that's already done, I've noticed), and then make standard NPC pages for all The Duality's in-game appearances, e.g. The Duality (Feerrott), The Duality (Obol Plains), etc. Jeff (talk|stalk) 12:48, December 4, 2012 (UTC)

The SF signature line has most of the lore for it. IIRC the basics of it is Dartain tries to conjure up Al'Kabor (who's dead) from the tomb in SBH to take his knowledge/power, but in the process of absorbing Al'Kabor he ends up becoming some kind of magical hybrid of both instead of just a more powerful Dartain. --lordebon (talk) 21:46, December 4, 2012 (UTC)

FWIW, there is also an instance of Dartain in Neriak. He is part of the Necromancer Epic Weapon Timeline. Is it possible for the most recent instance of an NPC to get the primary mention and any older ones get connected to that by links on a disambig page? (i.e. A link to the disambig page on the main page, then links to the older instances on that disambig page.) Necrotherian (talk) 01:29, December 9, 2012 (UTC)

what links here

during some cleanup i realized that i cannot find the 'what links here' any more. is that function removed or just well hidden? it is/was very helpful for cleanup in multiple redirects etc. --Xinturaia (talk) 08:48, November 27, 2012 (UTC)

The monobook skin still has it on the left side. I think you can use it if you go to Special:WhatLinksHere and paste in the name of the page manualy. --

11:41, November 27, 2012 (UTC)

perfect, thx. Monobook solved it ;) --Xinturaia (talk) 14:29, November 27, 2012 (UTC)

It's in the regular skin as well, click on the "My Tools" and it should be an option in a little section that pops above. --lordebon (talk) 15:28, November 27, 2012 (UTC)

i must be blind but where on earth is "my tools"? --Xinturaia (talk) 08:37, November 28, 2012 (UTC)

It's on the red bottom bar, between the "Special Pages" and "Customize" buttons. --lordebon (talk) 16:29, November 28, 2012 (UTC)

must be an issue with IE or a plugin but i cant see any of that, dont even have a bottom bar. no special pages or customize either. --Xinturaia (talk) 00:15, November 29, 2012 (UTC)

Is there a little //\\ button (white on red) in the bottom right corner, down where the red message bubbles pop up? That will bring the bottom bar up if it's hidden. If even that isn't there, then it might be an IE issue or a plugin issue maybe, but in the wikia skin it should be there (it won't be in monobook, obviously). --lordebon (talk) 04:00, November 29, 2012 (UTC)

no, there is no button. but at least i do know what to look for now. i will try around if i can solve it as changing styles for the tools gets a bit annoying. but thx alot for the tech support ;) --Xinturaia (talk) 07:03, November 29, 2012 (UTC)

Raid Timeline / Tiers

sorry to open up that issue again but how and where to add the raid content? As far as i can see the whole Skyshrine stuff is missing yet, not to talk about CoE content. Both should be T10 imho, but that might make the stuff in T9 now partly inconsistent (like PoW and maybe others which are clearly 90+). We even have some lvl 100+ raid mobs now --Xinturaia (talk) 12:34, December 3, 2012 (UTC)

Skyshrine and CoE are unequivocally T10. They're intended for 92 or 95 at minimum, so that places them squarely in T10. Same for PoW (which was bumped up 2 levels to be L92 technically, even if the gear wasn't fixed). I'd leave the older stuff (DoV1 and the non-PoW Drunders) under T9, since they're all balanced around L90 technically. That'll leave us plenty of room for more things in T10 down the line as well, since there'll be plenty more T10 content coming with these smaller level cap raises. --lordebon (talk) 21:22, December 3, 2012 (UTC)

sounds good to me, i ll work on it --Xinturaia (talk) 22:43, December 3, 2012 (UTC)

gave it a first shot. Updates, corrections and feedback welcome --Xinturaia (talk) 08:42, December 4, 2012 (UTC)

Gear Categories

just added a wis/int item - and it got added to Categories like: Gear for Crusaders, Dirges, etc... Is it possible to specify: Gear for Mages and Priests? I know that an SK could equipt it, but seriously... Rittmeister64 (talk) 21:58, December 3, 2012 (UTC)

The generic class categories are based off who can physically equip the item. They're not intended to be used to look up gear that is ideal for a particular class, only to classify that a class can physically equip the item. What classes the items are most intended for is more of a tricky and subjective thing (beyond the obvious base stat recommendations). --lordebon (talk) 22:24, December 3, 2012 (UTC)

we don't need a frikkin page for every single tradeskill recipe

example Draconic Rug, Version 3
this doesn't help anybody. what *would* actually help people are condesend pages like eg. all Tier 10 recipes on 1 page, and with pictures of all house-items. So people can quickly check what looks best, what do they want, or which poison or gear is best for them. I don't like this insanity that is going on right now to make a page with a dozen links for single recipes. Nobody's ever gonna look that up anyway. Rittmeister64 (talk) 19:16, December 6, 2012 (UTC)

There's no reason to not have pages for those items, so there's nothing wrong with someone adding them. It just makes the wiki more complete, which is never a bad thing. --lordebon (talk) 00:58, December 7, 2012 (UTC)

@Rittmeister64 - Adding a single piece of gear creates a lot more links (unless the gear in question is specific to a single class) than any of the house items I've added. Additionally, if you click on the link to that rug, you'll see an obtain link to the recipe book that contains that item. I'll agree that non-crafters may not see value in that, but I highly doubt that I am the only adventurer/tradeskiller that visits EQ2i.

@Lordebon - If the content I have added starts costing the person that pays for this wikia extra, let me know and I will make up the difference. As always, thank you for your time. Necrotherian (talk) 02:47, December 7, 2012 (UTC)

Dude, I have all crafters myself, most maxed out. My point is - if you want to make something useful and not just add pages like a robot that nobody will ever look at, make a compilation of sorts. For example house items with pics of the actual item instead of the icon, so people can quickly look up what they might want to have in their homes. I know we have a cool page for all totems that woodworkers can make. THAT actually helps people.Rittmeister64 (talk) 06:41, December 7, 2012 (UTC)

agree with lordebon, making the wiki more complete should be one of the goals of the contributors. be it every single item, zone, npc, quest, icon, whatever... i could go on.

Rittmeister64, if you do feel the need for such lists, feel free to start one yourself. noone's holding you back ;) --Vraeth (talk) 07:56, December 7, 2012 (UTC)

Rittmeister64, the in-game pics of the house items are part of the ultimate goal, yes. Just looking through the Carpenter recipes, there are plenty of books that have red links. Since I've sworn off posting my own screenshots (because of the apparent furor caused when I did so), adding those would be a good project for someone else.

As far as the in-game images, I could either post some on my blog and give wikia editors permission to use those as they see fit, or if the pics that are already available on EQ2Traders[2] or EQ2 Decorators[3] are available for use under the GNU Public License, someone may be able to use those (provided they are properly attributed - assuming an attribution template exists for those sites).

As far as the Totem idea, that sounds great, and could probably enhance the page on Woodworkers. (Since they make staves, totems, arrows, etc., you might make a separate area for each, and although some might not see the point, it would be a great overview for each tradeskill class.) Necrotherian (talk) 13:47, December 7, 2012 (UTC)

well, after all the topic was stupid, sorry for the raving headline too. as for screenshots, thats easy, we just get them from the inspect window - unless you want to craft every single item :) Rittmeister64 (talk) 17:56, December 7, 2012 (UTC)

Since you get an trade-exp bonus the first time you craft something, I presume he would indeed want to craft every single item... unless of course obtaining rares becomes an issue. Jeff (talk|stalk) 23:45, December 7, 2012 (UTC)

no, unfortunately they removed that bonus xp not long ago :/ --Vraeth (talk) 00:10, December 8, 2012 (UTC)

IIRC, when LootDB was being kept reasonably current, inserting the item link would generate the output from the examination window. (I could be mistaken, it has been a while since a link from LootDB would do anything.) That said, if one is editing eq2i on the same system as they play EQ2, it should be pretty simple to generate the examine window by copy/pasting from the item page to a /say ingame. I can't do it because a) I play eq2 on a separate computer, and b) I swore off uploading pictures. (Although, I suppose I could upload them to my blog and just link to my blog from my talk page - not to the pictures, just to the post containing them so someone else can upload them to eq2i.) Whatever works. Necrotherian (talk) 02:56, December 8, 2012 (UTC)

Adding Gear is a Pain

I usually avoid it even when I have a screenshot of all the stats, BECAUSE the templates don't come with all possible stats pre-installed, and all stats are missing explanations. I don't want to bother looking up stuff in a table, and I guess people new to this wiki will be scared away equally from adding gear because it is so uncomfortable. Shouldn't be hard to put all the stats + a short explanation into the templates.

eg. aspeed = | <<--Ability Casting Speed--> Rittmeister64 (talk) 06:39, December 10, 2012 (UTC)

I agree that descriptions of the stats within the templates would be helpful. In the meantime, I don't know if this will help, but what I end up doing half the time is opening up another tab, connecting to eq2i, then entering the stat name (e.g. ability modifier). One of the selections will usually be something to the effect of "Items with ____" (where _____ indicates whatever stat you happen to be looking up). Then I click on an item in the list, hit the edit button, then copy the line with the stat, and hit the back button on my browser so that the item that I'm copying from doesn't get inadvertantly altered. Next, I paste the copied stat into wherever the stat belongs in the new item (i.e. in the appropriate place for the gear - so if the ingame item shows it right after potency, I paste it right after potency.) Then I keep the tab open until I'm done editing the new item - in case there is another stat I have to look up.

The procedure sounds a lot more involved than it is, and usually takes 20-30 seconds depending upon how responsive my browser happens to be at the time. It isn't a permanent solution, but it is a workaround until the templates are more descriptive. (Note: I'm not saying that you must or should use this procedure - it is completely up to you. I'm just letting you know how I get around the problem. If you decide to use it, hopefully it will help you as much as it has helped me.) Necrotherian (talk) 07:07, December 10, 2012 (UTC)

I understand that's not that easy to add a new item perfectly and it defently takes quite some pratice.

I'm not a friend doing a comment line for each bluestat that is there in the preload template considering how many stats are out there by now. Therefor we added the bluestat helper which shows you the bluestat parameters and the effect so you can easier add those.

this said plz be aware that it's ok to write the bluestats just in the effectdesc line so it's vilible at least and someone else can take care of the use of the actual parameters.

I'm not sure which skin you are useing to editing, but from what i played a around with the monobook skin works best for this kind of task, since the Wikia skin doesn't show the bluestat helper or the preloads in usefull way. Even more annoying with the wikia skin is the fact that can't load the bluestat helper without getting to a totaly differnt side.

Even i know the most of the blue stats and if i forgot which parameter i need for a blue stat i either lookup at the bluestat helper (wikia skin is awfull for that, i love monobook not so fancy look but more functional for my needs) or at Template:EquipInformation#Parameters. --

10:09, December 10, 2012 (UTC)

So your reason is - you don't do it cause you dont want to and "there are so many blue stats"? I don't agree with that. Can we put it up for a vote? Thanks Rittmeister64 (talk) 13:01, December 10, 2012 (UTC)

Uberfuzzy started with the bluestat helper when soe added more and more bluestats, condsidering the article size if we add all parameters in the preload it would be more confusing then helping in the end since the preload would have liek 130 lines of parameters then. Currently we added the most common bluestats to the preload since nearly every item has potency, critchance, critbonus on them.

If there are 2 or 3 other common bluestats it's fine by me to add them to the preload, but some bluestats are just on like 1 out of 100 items and that's why they don't make it into the preload, but to the bluestat helper.

do you use the BlueStats helper where you just kinda have to paste in the parameter from the helper?

--

13:24, December 10, 2012 (UTC)

spellweapon stuff is missing mostly. ya, sure i will use the helper if i ever add stuff again. Can we vote on blue background for the wiki instead? (or any dark background color) ??? Rittmeister64 (talk) 13:28, December 10, 2012 (UTC)

The bluestats helper is there in the Wikia skin; it's in the second help bubble, you just have to expand it and scroll down a bit to see it. I think the problem might be that it's pushed down enough by the text on top so that you don't actually see the table of bluestats until you expand it, but since folks don't see it they don't know to expand it. That's something we can easily change, as is adding some descriptive comments to parameters that aren't obvious. We can also add the spell weapon stats to the preload, since they're very common nowadays. As for a dark background... I don't see it happening as the default (and I think it's been discussed before). Black text on white is the standard for readability. With that said, the place to discuss it would be the forum section, if you want to post there and see if many other users would like it then we could consider it further. You can always change the background and text color yourself using the user-based CSS pages (like User:Lordebon/wikia.css) to restyle what you see. If there's enough interest in a dark background, light text version we could make a standard custom CSS that users could easily copy over to their personal CSS page. --lordebon (talk) 15:08, December 10, 2012 (UTC)

I have proposed a few changes to give the wiki a much needed modern look. It needs a new menu, better Icons for the menu, and the proposed new color scheme might also be a plus. I realize the current Admin staff is for some reason too reluctant to accept any change and innovation, so I give up. Hopeless cause apparently. Rittmeister64 (talk) 19:53, December 10, 2012 (UTC)

There's nothing wrong with proposing change, but one user's opinion is not enough for us to make large changes to the wiki at the drop of a hat. We look for consensus to try and come up with something that the majority of folks will be the most satisfied with. In the past, the most successful revamps have been done by the person first creating a mockup of the new design (you can use a subpage of your userpage for that, for example) and then create a forum topic for it which we can then advertise for folks to comment on. December holidays are not a good time for me to worry about revamping the mainpage myself. But in general I think you're confusing unwillingness to change with our standard procedure for getting consensus on change before implementing it. --lordebon (talk) 21:22, December 10, 2012 (UTC)

ADVERTISING useful pages

please put an Info-Slider at the frontpage of the WIKI, which should have like 6 big images advertising useful pages and stuff. There's too much good content that people hardly ever get to see here. eg. http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/CoE_Fabled_Sets (can also be used to advertise pages that need a community effort for improvement). Many News outlets have such an image scroller at their frontpage including ZAM, and you don't need to be scared to copy good ideas...
but I expect "this needs a democratic voting" on the issue - which means probably nothing is gonna happen... Rittmeister64 (talk) 10:35, January 5, 2013 (UTC)

We could add a link to Fabled Sets there. -- 01:20, January 6, 2013 (UTC)

You can and should rotate these 6 ads of course, meaning you take out the oldest one like once a week and put in a new one, or remove a seasonal event ad after it ends of course...Rittmeister64 (talk) 01:26, January 6, 2013 (UTC)

Remove trailing period from Obtain VendorItem macro

This has bugged me for far too long, it's about time I finally said something about it. When filling out the Obtain field and using the VendorItem macro, it automatically appends a trailing period after the zone name:

- This item can be purchased from Giggawat Gigglegibber, a Frostfell vendor in Frostfell Wonderland Village

This is all fine and dandy, until you want to list the price as well:

- This item can be purchased from Giggawat Gigglegibber, a Frostfell vendor in Frostfell Wonderland Village for 60s 90c

Notice the trailing period is now an annoyance. I honestly don't see any benefit to even having that trailing period there; if you want to use it in a sentence, then use it, and then add your own trailing period to the end. Let's not have macros enforce punctuation. =) -- Donhead (talk) 19:46, January 9, 2013 (UTC)

Done. --lordebon (talk) 00:35, January 10, 2013 (UTC)

Thank you! This has been bugging me for like 2 years, I've just kept my mouth shut about it. =P -- Donhead (talk) 00:24, January 11, 2013 (UTC)

Don't be afraid to ask about stuff like that, we're happy to make quick fixes and whatnot. A lot of the really old templates have some quirks like that.

Thinking about it, it might even be worth it to add another parameter to that template for currency, so we can categorize all the items purchased with a single currency. The way I'm thinking, you'd just add say |currency=Obol at the end and then it'd at it to say Category:Obol Currency Items (or something similar, not quite sure about that name). How does that sound? --lordebon (talk) 06:07, January 11, 2013 (UTC)

sounds pretty good and useful to me --Xinturaia (talk) 23:49, January 20, 2013 (UTC)

EQ2 DATA dump from SOE

hi guys!
been hearing about this thing for a while. Do you have any hard facts about this? I mean, do you have a data-dump already, and working on a way to import the data into the Wiki? Will this add all the items that currently dont exist here with correct stats, will it update existing gear with the actual correct stats? any info appreciated, thanks... Rittmeister64 (talk) 16:00, January 16, 2013 (UTC)

remove Useless sidebar on article pages

recent wiki articles
related videos
latest photos
livechat

these should all be removed from all article pages! they take up too much space and are quite useless. the whole sidebar is 99% useless on article pages. the only thing that is needed is a "search" box, which can be added at the top of bottom instead. voila - 30% more width for content! Rittmeister64 (talk) 17:27, January 17, 2013 (UTC)

The sidebar is mandated by Wikia. It is not something we can remove, believe me it would have been long gone (or otherwise minimized for more article space) if we were permitted to remove it. --lordebon (talk) 17:29, January 17, 2013 (UTC)

ok, thanks for the info. I thought you could edit the whole appearance except the wikia top-bar. i get it, it's their ad-space (which i have disabled for me).Rittmeister64 (talk) 17:39, January 17, 2013 (UTC)

Unfortunately not :(. The overall layout of the space (which area is for the article, which is pre-set wikia features) is set by them and we're forced to work around it. It's not even just a matter of space for advertisments, it's even things like the fixed width of the page (and thus the background bars running down the sides) that we can't change these days. Of course, you can always play around with things on your own, such as adding some script to expand the articles to full width for yourself, but the terms of service prohibit us from using things like that to do it by default. --lordebon (talk) 17:50, January 17, 2013 (UTC)

A thought about icons

I was thinking it might be a good idea to move the rock and gem icons out of Category:Icons into something like Category:Stone and Gem Icons, like we did for Category:Coin and Medallion Icons. Icons can be a PITA as some other people said, but I've always found that subcategories makes it easier to find the ones you want and make sure the naming's consistent. Jeff (talk|stalk) 00:05, February 11, 2013 (UTC)

Frankly it's all a bit of a mess. The problem is the icons have no base classification even to SOE that is visible anywhere. All we can officially determine them as is which item icon file and it's position within the file... each dds file for item icons has the capacity for 6x6 or 36 total icons, not always 100% used and at current count I see 106 files.

For that reason I've always been a little bit tempted to just rename the icons after their file and position (ie Icon_006_32 for file-number or Icon_006_6_2 for file-row-column) or even just after a number order (Icon_2421) and then just free up the categories for what they look like (things like the coins and medallion) and where we know they're used (things like leg icons, etc). Based on the data feed I can see at EQ2U, it looks like they actually make the icons available in a simple numbered order (zero-indexed)... for example, icon 6 on SOE's feed is the 7th entry (row 2, column 1) in the very first item file, icons_is1.dds.

But my god, what an effort that would be to go through and clean that up. All the in-article renaming could be done via bots, but we'd still have to figure out which icons we already have and what number they correspond to. It wouldn't be hard item-to-item because of the data feed, but it'd still be a lot of manual work moving them and then running the bot for each item. What I'd like more than anything would be to totally revamp the icons such that there's only one icon per number and the appropriate rarity cloud is simply backgrounded behind the icon (which has transparency). I might fiddle and see if I can work that out, all it should take is getting the various colored rarity clouds from high quality screenshots, and I know how I can do that easily enough. Maybe if I get that working in a test template I'll think about really proposing such a major change in the icons.... I'd have to talk to 'fuzzy and see if we'd be okay in scraping the data feed to get initial icons and just host them locally.

But, I digress. To get back to your actual comment, I have no problem with adding them into the new category you propose. Sorry for the kind of drawn-out rant, but since you brought them up and you're one of the main ones that deals with icons, I figured you might have input on my semi-crazy idea to clean up the files. --lordebon (talk) 03:21, February 11, 2013 (UTC)

just to add my 2c... Your idea sounds great, although it might get difficult for a not in-depth user to use it in articles. as i can see it's already difficult for alot of unfrequent contributors to use even templates. Still, i think it is a good idea and make it easier overall. My actual issues with the icons is (and i did create a bunch of stuff lately) that its horrible to search. Not only are our subcategories "a bit unstructured" but also SOE uses the same icon for a bunch of stuff, same one in ear, charm, item and house items. I tried to add additional categories so that those show up in all categories but for the rarer ones (almost everything except armor stuff) you have to browse all the different subcategories to maybe see the right icon. I wish it showed all "icons" in the category icons, if i go to equipment icons, only (but all) equipement icons and so on. even an overwiew as in [[4]] would be nice and a great help but probably impossible to maintain and update. Also trying to answer your question McJeff, i think to create another subcategory for stuff like gems and stones is no issue as long as you just add the category to these icons so they show up both in icons as well as in your subcategory. so no moving is necessary, just adding some additional structuring --Xinturaia (talk) 11:36, February 11, 2013 (UTC)

If we do go to a numbered system, it would be pretty easy to look up the icon # on EQ2U (or the data feed in general, if we get practical access to it here). That's one the of main reasons for having the system that way. It'd still be tricky for new users to figure out the icon, but it would make it easier for someone who knows the method to go back and add icons in. Since we'd only have 1 icon file for all rarities, we could lump them all in one base "Item Icons" category for folks to page through as well as having the more semantic appearance-based and usage-based manual categories to make searching quicker. --lordebon (talk) 15:08, February 11, 2013 (UTC)

If this is based off a vote, you can count me in favor of an overhaul. Finding icons now is painful; ANYTHING is an improvement. Incorporating data feed information wherever we can should be a priority, so if it means that icons are broken for a while during the revamp, I think it's worth it. I think that this really comes down to being able to pull item data (stats, description, etc) in general from the data feeds; I'd think if you can get the stats, you'd be able to get the icon as well. If we could get items to actually pull data from the feeds, the icons should "magically" fall into place as well. -- Donhead (talk) 18:02, February 12, 2013 (UTC)

I totally forgot about this, and found a link on a "todo" post-it. This is what I had sketched out back then, and mashed out a wiki template today as I had some downtime from work time (damn gym injury): http://uberfuzzy.wikia.com/wiki/Icon_test . I need to cleanup a few things in the code, but it "works", and figure out a better way to indicate background (like looking at the contents of the FLAGS parameter we already have passed to EquipInformation ).

There is no single-url-from-pagename way to get the icon (afaik). Any item in the api just has an icon number buried in the structure returned, and there is a different url (mcjeff linked one from wire in the op) to get that icon asset. And those icons have no background (see the eq2u url above) (oh, and to those interested in the DDS files, the icon frames are in icon_transp1.dds)

The template on that page builds the url given a icon id. To get the icon ID, you would need to look up the item in the API manually, or look at the URL on EQ2u, or hopefully I finish my API2Wiki tool (the UI is a mess right now, was debuggin some strange class data, and got pulled into a raid last week, then got hurt on monday...) The idea was if I could get the core library worked out, I can easily wrap it as a MediaWiki extension and get Wikia to install it as a Special: page for us to use here. Same with the icons code.

To get back to McJeff's original post reason: Yes, icons are a mess, they are a hold over to a time when the wiki was simpler. Yes, we should be taking advantage of Census more, especially its image assets. We already have a template for its paperdoll image (check out User:Uberfuzzy/Lomir), and there are others we can pull out. Lets work smarter, not harder.

--Uberfuzzy (talk) 03:39, March 8, 2013 (UTC)

I haven't taken a peak at the backend there, but that's basically what I was proposing. Using the backgrounds on the icons won't be hard, it's just a matter of setting up an element the icon image will be in that has the background image of the appropriate rarity going off the item's rarity flag. Looking at Census/REAL/whatever they call it more, there's no reason we need to mirror the icons, we can just link to them like you've done in that template (and as EQ2U does). The trick like you say is going to be in finding a reliable way of getting the icon # in the first place. If we start building item pages automatically using the API it won't really be an issue; just a matter of entering item names and copy/paste at worst or even hooking it directly in as an extension like you mention.

Items have always been a hassle, so being able to pull them in will be great for getting and keeping them up to date. I do think we should add a param to the item/equip templates for marking if/when the page was updated by the API. Ideally we would use a date field, that way it'd satisfy a simple yes/no if the page was API-generated (for categorization) and then also give the information as to when the record was pulled. --lordebon (talk) 16:05, March 8, 2013 (UTC)

Hey Uberfuzzy, your Icon test page there looks awesome! That to me seems like a very straightforward way of doing it, and a little bit of homework up front to find the icon number for an item would go a long way toward not having to suffer through pages and pages of icons looking for one that may not even be there. How long until we could see just that SOEicon macro functioning here? -- Donhead (talk) 20:53, March 8, 2013 (UTC)

ItemRecipe Template?

So, while thinking about items, and the many discussions I've had with players in-game, there's something that I think is missing from crafted item pages: what are the necessary components/fuels to craft them?

After some considerable thought, I think this is something that EQ2i could offer the community that would be really useful, and unless I'm lacking some huge understanding of the way Wikia works, I don't think it's anything that would require a massive overhaul.

My "rough draft in my head" version of this just has a template that sits below the normal ItemInformation template, and has a place for components, quantities, fuels, and the recipe book it's found in. Potentially, you could add the crafting class that makes it, and the level of recipe, but some may consider that too much excess duplication of data, which is understandable.

Primary Component
Item	alder cudgel
Tradeskill	Artisan Level 2
Technique	Fletching
Recipe Book	Advanced Artisan Volume 2
Device	Woodworking Table
1	severed alder
Build Components
1	severed elm
1	lead cluster
1	rawhide leather pelt
Fuel Component
2	Basic Sandpaper

Nearly all the components already exist as individual pages, as do all the fuels, and probably 99% of the recipe books. It's really just a matter of making that template available to items that are crafted. It would be awesome if it could just be included, commented-out by default, on any item page that's created, with a simple, "If this item is crafted, please fill out and uncomment this block" statement. Whether it's included as part of the ItemInformation template, or made into a separate template, is totally up to you guys; I'm just coming up with the idea. Even cooler would be if you could go back and retroactively add it to any page that has an "obtain = ((CraftedItem))" block in it, so that as people run across them, they can fill them out.

Anyway, that's my contribution for the month. Implement away! =) -- Donhead (talk) 18:31, February 19, 2013 (UTC)

I love the idea, but I dont think it will scale for EVERY recipe. The problem we have with a wiki, is its not a database or live website. Each page is just a block of static text that never changed without human interaction. The same way we struggle if item stats are changed, they dont update here until someone takes the time to check it. We actually have a similar problem with recipe books. Things are ninja added, and the wiki doesnt update, and people get angry (like actually angry, like hate mail to me, yeah). I think for "major" recipies (important things, like dislodgers, maybe the draconic researched things, though for those we could easily link to EQ2Trader's page with all the parts on 1 page) we could use a template very similar to yours to give a unified format to parts/fuel needed.

The API does list the recipes contained in books (example), but AFAIK they dont yet expose recipe details yet, so anything added would need to be manualy examined/typed.

I'd like to get the input of other admins before deciding either way on what to do with your suggestion, but I do see some uses for it, even if not your exact suggestion. --Uberfuzzy (talk) 21:52, February 20, 2013 (UTC)

It's a good idea, and imo necessary for some high-interest things (think along the lines of the skyshrine heroic/raid researcher recipes). The way I can see it is just having a Recipe page section and then put the recipe template. I don't see the need to have it for every recipe like 'fuzzy says (given how templated some of them are, we could always make templates of the template for them for ease, but that's not really important). It'd be easy if the recipe details were available on the feed, but since they're not it falls back on manual editing and thus the main area I see it needed is those important recipes like I mentioned.

Ideally I'd like to see the template kept as simple as possible, both in terms of use and in visual appearance on the page (it just needs to convey the important info of the mats/fuel for the most part). Personally I think the example above has too much information in too tall/narrow a display. Ideally the template would have the information but in a more compact way to use what horizontal space we get to the fullest. But we can work on a good layout if/when we make the template. --lordebon (talk) 22:32, February 20, 2013 (UTC)

I agree completely that going back and retroactively doing every single recipe is a monumental undertaking, since that information isn't available via the feed, and that keeping it up to date is an exercise in futility. I think for your common recipes, it can be ignored. The specific case that brought this to mind was the Tradeskill Apprentices / Skyshrine Tradeskill Apprentices recipes, and other specialty items (Mirror of Reflected Achievements, Far Seas Strategic Pricing (3rd Edition), Volume II, the recipes for Frozen Shard of Magic-like items, etc).

That example template was about as inclusive as possible intentionally, just to kind of get a "brain dump" of what I had in mind. I'm totally okay with minimizing what is displayed, I was just using the actual UI as an example / starting point (when you hover over a recipe in your recipe book). Carry on, and let me know when it's ready to test. =) -- Donhead (talk) 15:20, February 28, 2013 (UTC)

Adding quest rewards to timelines

I was thinking that since each zone now has standardized quest rewards (each zone drops one full set of treasured gear), it would be useful to add which quests give what reward to make it easier for people who maybe aren't questers but need gear to decide which quests to do. I've actually already done that for The Enchanted Lands Timeline to see how it looks. But, I thought it would be worth a discussion on whether this will even work. Jeff (talk|stalk) 16:53, February 27, 2013 (UTC)

I kinda like it. Any useful information is always welcome. These "timelines" of zones/regions were always something we heard positive feedback on, and would love to get some dedicated people assigned to sprucing them up and aligning them to the updated "golden path" quests. This extra info would be very useful in the SkyShrine chain, so you know that even though you werent getting anything(useful) for quest after quest, you would be getting really nice shoulders at the end. --Uberfuzzy (talk) 04:19, February 28, 2013 (UTC)

I also like it, as long as it stays short like that example and only for quests that reward the same slot for all classes (which is most new ones, generally only the old ones were the random hodgepodge of classes and slots). Also makes me wish we could find a way of rework the old timeline sidebar to get it back in and have that info in there somehow. I wish we had access to the right column in wikia's page layout to include content in there, that space would almost be perfect for the timeline and just has filler junk now. --lordebon (talk) 15:33, February 28, 2013 (UTC)

Beta Documentation?

So, now that the beta has started for the next update/expansion/thingy, and it appears to be open to the public (with no noticable NDA-type things), what types of things are we allowed to document ahead of time? Obviously, being in beta, things are subject to change, but there's probably a lot of information that testers could start putting together now. Can we come up with something like a ((beta)) tag or something like that, which places a banner at the top that says the content below is only in the beta version of EQ2, and then when it's released, we make going through all the ((beta)) tagged pages a priority? Just trying to come up with a way to prevent a bunch of time spent on a day one documenting every single detail instead of having fun. =) -- Donhead (talk) 17:24, April 3, 2013 (UTC)

{{Test}} is the tag to use, since it's publicly available on test with no NDA. They call it the beta server, but in practice when it's open it's just the same as old test copy, so our existing test template should cover things. It automatically categorizes anything tagged with it into Category:Test as well. --lordebon (talk) 18:43, April 3, 2013 (UTC)

Wow, I had no idea that ((test)) was a thing. Cool! I'll start using it. =) -- Donhead (talk) 21:18, April 3, 2013 (UTC)

Silly NPC Duplication

It looks like we have both Field Marshal Vishra and Field Marshall Vishra, including possibly some pages beneath the disambig. Not sure the "cleanest" way to clean that up. Someone care to take a stab at it? Based on the conversation I just had with him in Cobalt Scar, the correct spelling (at least in that zone) is with one "L", not two. Thank you! -- Donhead (talk) 19:06, April 30, 2013 (UTC)

We just need to confirm the spelling of them, then we can delete the incorrect ones (and probably leave the incorrect disambig page as a redirect to the correctly-spelled one, just in case). --lordebon (talk) 21:01, April 30, 2013 (UTC)

I checked - it's spelled with 1 L across all the zones. Appropriate renames have been done. I'd love to blame this on SOE rather than my inability to read/spell, but there's two images I'd already taken proving me wrong on that... Jeff (talk|stalk) 17:43, May 1, 2013 (UTC)

No worries. One vs two Ls is a pretty common issue in English (Consider "till" and "until") so it's easy to get them backwards. --lordebon (talk) 17:51, May 1, 2013 (UTC)

Thank you for confirming and cleaning that up! -- Donhead (talk) 23:41, May 1, 2013 (UTC)

Common Templates for Current Update preloads

Could we get them updated for LU66 instead of Chains of Eternity? Jeff (talk|stalk) 21:18, May 5, 2013 (UTC)

Spell Weapon DPS Function

Can someone take a look at the Spell Weapon DPS function (swdps). It's adding a % and it should a fixed value, similar to dps. Take a look at Cursed Doll of Cruelty as an example. It suggests that the swdps is 1.9%, whereas it should be fixed value of 1.9.

Thanks --Khandi (talk) 12:23, September 5, 2013 (UTC)

Easy fix, I just need to verify how it looks in-game. I'll try and check it in-game tonight, if I forget just upload a temporary screenshot and I can fix it from that. --lordebon (talk) 12:45, September 5, 2013 (UTC)

Screenshot uploaded to http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/File:Cursed_Doll_of_Cruelty.jpg --Khandi (talk) 07:46, September 6, 2013 (UTC)

And fixed! Let me know if you find any other stats that have the % but shouldn't. --lordebon (talk) 13:01, September 6, 2013 (UTC)

Image deletion

Hello Admins!

Please excuse my n00bness as I'm still learning the system here. I would NOT like to request that you delete the following picture. I was unsure of the proper mode of supporting a proposed "letter case" change and uploaded this screenshot.

McJeff has since provided excellent guidance on this matter.

Thank you in advance for your assistance!

--Paceyourself (talk) 21:21, October 10, 2013 (UTC)

I don't see any particular need to delete it - we have a few other name verification images. Just post it on Talk:K'val Ruins. Like, for example, we did with Talk:Sullon's Spire. Though if you want it deleted I'm sure no one with the tools would mind Jeff (talk|stalk) 21:28, October 10, 2013 (UTC)

I'll go ahead and post it to the talk page. Thanks for your insight!

Paceyourself (talk) 15:44, October 11, 2013 (UTC)

'Mastercrafted' glowing text thing

A few expansions back, I think when free-to-play started, SOE changed 'Mastercrafted' to the same color as 'Treasured' and then added two more categories, 'Mastercrafted Legendary' (same color as Legendary) and 'Mastercrafted Fabled' (same color as Common... no, as Fabled). I think to fix and change this you'd have to tinker with the _icat_ categories on the item and equip information templates and those are protected - any chance of any admins tackling getting the icats fixed and updated? Jeff (talk|stalk) 23:51, October 12, 2013 (UTC)

Purple Adornments Template Update needed

due to the new adornment type an addition for the purple adornment slot(s) is needed in the template. Plz add. --Xinturaia (talk) 12:34, October 30, 2013 (UTC)

Done. Added the new weapon / spell weapon damage bonus stats as well. --lordebon (talk) 20:23, October 30, 2013 (UTC)

Thx alot - i really should get into that template stuff ;) --Xinturaia (talk) 08:15, October 31, 2013 (UTC)

Terms and Redirects

I thought I was making a fairly innocuous clean up of an article but McJeff has taken issue on it for some reason so i will make a case for it's change.

I redirected the term Vendor Trash to the Category:Vendor Loot (Item Type) article and made a note on the common Terms page to help consolidate the information.

I hardly think every common game term is worthy of an article. Especially something as off the cuff as "vendor trash". It fits fine on the common terms page imo. Are we going to start making articles for other terms now like LFG or WTB?

I get it McJeff, for some reason you don't like me but I'm not making changes to intentionally spite you. I honestly believe this is a cleaner way to do it and unless you have a reason for it not to be moved it comes across as being unnecessarily contrary.Jado818 (talk) 03:03, November 7, 2013 (UTC)

To some extent this is a matter of personal taste. But from an objective viewpoint, does it hurt to have the page (which is part of the terms category)? I can't see a reason why it hurts, even if the article itself doesn't have a great deal of extra info on it. In general, when the test I apply is this: if a page already exists, does it serve a purpose? If so, then there's no real reason to remove it. Even if the content is somewhat duplicated elsewhere, a user searching for "vendor trash" or "vendor loot" might find the main namespace article well before finding the terms article or the category, . The main article can also contain more information than should be on the Terms page for example. In this case, I could see the article having more information on types of vendor trash and such; in fact, I've added a little bit more information about rarer trash that is worth more and the leveled value of it.

As for personality conflicts, all editors should assume that everyone else is acting in good faith, and someone reverting a change means they honestly have a reason against the change. If you disagree, talking it out on the talk page or bringingg it here for further discussion is the way to go. In this case even though you might not find the page useful, there might be someone out there that does. The same would go for a LFG page for example, which might detail the LFG system (admittedly underused/underdesigned) and link to information about dungeon finder even. In general, we don't have the same kind of notoriety requirement that Wikipedia has; if some concrete aspect of the game exists, there's no reason a page can't be made dealing with it. There's a few examples where we usually don't bother (such as individual pages for collection items), but that has less to do with any invalidity of the page and more with it just not being worth the effort for most editors. If someone was dead-set on making item pages for each individual collectable, they would be able to do so.

The tl;dr: In general if information serves a purpose (and is not a simple copy/paste duplicate) there needs to be a good reason to delete it. This page does serve some purpose, so I've restored it and edited it a bit to make it more informative. One thing to keep in mind is that users that have been around longer usually have a better sense of the unwritten rules or common practices that newer users might not be familiar with. Reverts should not be taken personally, especially when done in good faith. In this case, from what I can tell it had little to do with not having permission and more to do with the idea that an article has an inherent right to exist and needs to have a valid reason to be deleted, rather than vice versa. Who makes the edit also should not matter, it's the content of the edit that matters. --lordebon (talk) 05:09, November 7, 2013 (UTC)

Maybe I should try to say this in a different way. I didn't delete the content, I had never deleted the content, I had redirected it to vendor loot and merged the content.

I don't think Vendor Trash should be deleted. I think it should be redirected to Category:Vendor Loot (Item Type). Why you might ask, well so the description and categorical list of items are in same place. Is there a reason not to have them as such knowing that a redirect function can be utilized?

The term doesn't need a page to itself. It and Vendor Loot are essentially the same thing and can be described as such on the same page. I honestly can't believe my intentions were misinterpreted by two different people so I must not be explaining myself well. All I had done was merge the content. I had never deleted it.

I don't want the content deleted I want it merged.

and LFG probably does deserve a page to itself but terms like WTB, WTS, OOM, pop, etc for sure don't. This is why I think a Terms Category is a bad style choice also.

I would suggest making a well written Common Game Terms article and redirecting searches for terms to a main article. I think it looks cleaner than a bunch of tiny articles with one or two sentences. The Category Terms would not be necessary with a well written terms article.

If you insist on having a category:terms though it can still be utilized in cnojuction with redirects.

An example would be as this Vendor Trash Test

You will notice a redirect can still be used to direct a search to a more appropriate article and still have that redirected page listed in a category.

Jado818 (talk) 05:32, November 8, 2013 (UTC)

@Jado818 - Why are you making such a big deal out of this? This is a community and two wise and experienced members of this community are trying to explain why it should just be left alone. Defer to their wisdom! I've had TONS of my articles, pictures and edits moved, renamed and redirected.

I don't think I do bad work but I defer judgement to those with more experience. You do a lot of good work here and this trivial matter shouldn't be a stumbling block for you. Paceyourself (talk) 11:24, November 8, 2013 (UTC)

That's just it though. I don't think using a redirect and consolidating information should be a big deal for something like this. I honestly don't understand the push back on this and talking about it might help me understand the reasoning to keep something like this. The "it doesn't hurt anything" wasn't a compelling argument to me because I think the wiki would function better with it consolidated. Jado818 (talk) 15:13, November 8, 2013 (UTC)

Let me give a bit of background about using the category page. Categories are intended to be focused on listing the contents with at most a short description of what the category is, and quite often use a link to a similar article page that has more information. That is the main reason I disagree with just merging the information into the category page and using the article page name as a redirect. If historically we kept a lot of information on category pages and used redirects it would be fine, but as a sort of unofficial policy/guideline we try to keep category pages short and use articles to support them.

In this case, I think the Vendor Trash idea is sufficiently deep that it deserves a page. A simple acronym like "OOP" or "WTB" can be explained in a sentence and doesn't have much information to it (other information for those, such as the Broker system, exist at other pages and can be pointed there). Admittedly in this case it's a bit borderline, but when it's a close call we generally err on the side of having more information (and thus having an article). The article being/not being in the terms category is not important; having a redirect in the category would not be something we would do, since a redirect is a contentless page.

With that said, if you'd like to work on the Terms page to expand it / add more things to it, I'm all for it. However, entries should be kept short on it to keep the page readable, so terms that already have a page don't need to redirect to the terms article. Doing that can cause issues when a user thinks there's an article for a page, try to visit it and instead they end up on a different page entirely and then have to look for what they were seeking in a longer list. --lordebon (talk) 17:49, November 8, 2013 (UTC)

Ok, I understand. I might work on the Terms page at some point. There are so many things I'm trying to do though so it might be a while.

Thank you for the reasoning, it helps me better understand the style the wiki is aiming for. I might not agree with every style choice but at least I can understand the why so I don't get frustrated. Jado818 (talk) 18:39, November 8, 2013 (UTC)

Glad that helped. It's part of the nature of a wiki that it's consensus driven, and we don't always agree on each course of action (there's been several over the years where the consensus was for something I disagreed or didn't fully agree with). On a side note, I've changed the title of this section, since it's not really appropriate to the topic and is more on a personal-level, something to be avoided. --lordebon (talk) 19:15, November 8, 2013 (UTC)

I'm rather bemused by Jado818's belief that I have something against him, considering this is the first time I recall interacting with him anywhere. Wikis are supposed to operate under consensus, and that's why I suggested that Jado start a discussion here. Jeff (talk|stalk) 19:57, November 10, 2013 (UTC)

I was more frustrated that you undid my edit without adding anything constructive toward the consensus. Jado818 (talk) 20:29, November 10, 2013 (UTC)

Generally it takes more than two people to come to a consensus. Wikipedia has a sort-of-policy called Bold, Revert, Discuss. In my opinion, WP:BRD is a fine policy for wikis in general - feel free to make a change, even a large one, but if people don't like it they can revert it. Then it gets discussed. That's why I suggested you start a discussion here on Talk:Admins. Jeff (talk|stalk) 01:29, November 11, 2013 (UTC)

Priest categories and a thought

Now that channelers are live, we need to get them added to Template:AllPriestCats.

I was also thinking. Since channelers use bows and arrows instead of the usual priest/mage ranged weapons, maybe we could come up with something like Template:AllPriestButChannelerCats? Some way to easily add that a piece of equipment is usable by all the priests except for channelers, rather than go through the trouble of adding all the class cats or subclass cats. I also think Template:AllScoutsButBeastlordCats would be useful, since all the non-beastlord scouts use swords and beastlords use fist weapons. Jeff (talk|stalk) 20:45, November 16, 2013 (UTC)

SOE data dump

I thought, SOE will provide data for items etc, which in turn can be imported into EQ2i so we don't have to do it all by hand, be quicker, and avoid errors. I thought this about a year ago. Is this going to happen or not? Rittmeister64 (talk) 14:34, November 30, 2013 (UTC)

SOE's API for item data is out there, but there's no direct way of importing it into the wiki. In order to take the SOE API and use it here we have to have an intermediate step, something that converts the data provided by the API into the template format ready to paste into the wiki. I know Uberfuzzy was working on such before but I don't think he ever got it finished for use. I've taken a look at it myself recently and done a little bit of work on it but I haven't had much time to devote to it. So yes it's something that will happen sooner or later, but I can't give an ETA or anything, especially with it being the busy holiday season now.

In the meantime, if someone else wants to code & host a tool that will convert data from the EQ2 RESTful API into valid templated text they're welcome to go for it; anyone can request a service ID from SOE to use the API. If not, one will be coming eventually, it just takes a bit of time to sit down and churn through it. It's definitely been on my list, but other things (like keeping my UI up to date, and actually playing the game) have been consuming my free time lately. --lordebon (talk) 17:40, November 30, 2013 (UTC)

interesting stuff. thanks.Rittmeister64 (talk) 19:11, November 30, 2013 (UTC)

Image Assistance Please

Hail Admins!

I require your great and wise assistance. I was in a mighty battle with a formidable opponent in the Eidolon Jungle. It was none other than The Abominable Shimmeroot. I slew the vile beast and looted the Shimmering Pelisse from his dead and lifeless corpse.

It was then that I ran into a problem out here IRL. I went to add the equipment when I found a strange page asking for it to be wikified. I was more than willing to do that. I uploaded an equipment picture and wikified the page... The problem occurred when I realized that the person that started the page uploaded a picture too (albeit capitalized incorrectly).

I believe the incorrect image either needs to be renamed and placed prior to mine or simply deleted.

Incorrect image: http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/File:Shimmering_pelisse.jpg

Correct image: http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/File:Shimmering_Pelisse.png

Thank you for your assistance! (Talk) 21:03, December 16, 2013 (UTC)

You can just tag the duplicated images with {{AfD|Reason}} and we'll clean em up sooner or later. In the future you don't have to include the drop message, we believe folks when they say it drops unless it's challenged ;). --lordebon (talk) 21:28, December 17, 2013 (UTC)

Thank you!

(Talk) 11:37, December 18, 2013 (UTC)

Icon not acting properly

Hail Admins!

I really didn't want to contact you about this because I thought I could figure it out on my own.

I was uploading the Falling Oak belt and went to the belt icon category to select an appropriate icon. Belt icon 14 was the correct icon but was only listed in the "Legendary" and "Treasured" varieties so I uploaded a "Fabled" version. I went back to the belt icon page and hit refresh because I like to confirm that any new icons I submit get categorized properly.

It wasn't there. I went to the icon I had uploaded (http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/File:Belt_Icon_14_%28Fabled%29.png) and found that there was a previous version that wasn't categorized.

I am unable to figure out how to correct this and {{delete|reason}} did not seem appropriate. Thank you for your assistance!

(Talk) 14:53, December 21, 2013 (UTC)

I see you having uploaded an image but it does show the same as the old one. I don't know why but it can take a long time for the actual image to update to the new one you uploaded. I've seen it happen to me before. I usually just upload the image and figure the wiki will sort it out eventually.

It does show you as having uploaded the icon though so I'd say check back later. Jado818 (talk) 15:07, December 21, 2013 (UTC)

I'm curious since the prior one wasn't categorized, is that the reason the new upload isn't categorized either? If so, then this particular icon could conceivably be uploaded time and again without ever being categorized. I'll check it tomorrow and see what happens...

Thanks for the reply!

(Talk) 15:57, December 21, 2013 (UTC)

Actually the issue you had in uploading it is you put the category in the file upload comment, not the actual content page for the file. That is most likely because you were uploading a new version rather than a new file and didn't notice; when uploading a new version there is no change made to the text of the file, just replacement of the file with the new version and the comment box for why the article was uploaded. It's easiest to see when you're doing that because there won't be a licensing drop-down when uploading new file versions. If the file already exists and is fine, you just hit edit on the file page and add the category manually, as I've done for icon in question here.

The issue with files taking a while to update applies only to the actual images itself, not the content pages of the images. While it can take some time for an article to be added to a category if you do so via template, adding a category to an article manually will always result in it showing up in the category immediately. The issue here is the file was never actually added to the category because the text tod do so was in the file upload comment rather than the file page. --lordebon (talk) 16:04, December 21, 2013 (UTC)

That was it! Now that you mention it, I didn't see the licensing drop-down. I didn't even think about it because I was more concerned with getting the category right. I never even thought about another icon being uploaded previously since there wasn't one in the category.

Thank you for another valuable lesson!

(Talk) 15:47, December 22, 2013 (UTC)

POI template and images

Would there be any way possible to rig {{POIInformation}} so that it automatically loads an image that was uploaded at the proper name? For example, so Mouth of the Sanctum would automatically display Image:Mouth of the Sanctum.png? It would be nice if POI images don't have to be added to each POI article manually. Jeff (talk|stalk) 20:55, January 5, 2014 (UTC)

Category changes and related discussions

Hi Admins!

I went into Category:Equipment Icons today and immediately noticed it had changed. Since I've been almost exclusively adding equipment, I use this page quite often. Was there a discussion concerning changing this page?

Since I've been adding so much to the equipment recently, I have mentally noted some changes that would make the equipment icons more efficient. This recent change certainly isn't one I would advocate... It actually adds another layer of complexity to the category.

I normally don't say anything about the way the Wiki is handled and just roll with the changes. If there was a discussion held concerning this change, I would have liked to weigh in and would have tried to persuade you against it. Where does one go to find information concerning these decisions or are they just made without regard to consensus?

Thank you in advance for your reply. (Talk) 16:05, January 19, 2014 (UTC)

Sorry about not making the changes more noticeable. The change started off as a discussion about The symbols Icons category on the talk page Category talk:Symbols Icons and it sort of evolved from there.

I wanted to organize all of the equipment icons by equipment slot then by types so when you click on a specific slot then you can narrow down the type of icon you were looking for before scanning through the list of images.

Like if you went to a Ranged Slot Category and then clicked on throwing icons. Instead of having the throwing, focus, and bow icons all in the same category.

Lordebon said something about working on an entirely new system to do away with the current system, but I wanted to try and improve the current system where I can in the mean time.

I still have a couple of ideas to improve the icons organization but I'll make sure to discuss them before I do anything. Jado818 (talk) 16:16, January 19, 2014 (UTC)

Like Jado said, it started as a discussion on the symbols icons talk page. Since it's a relatively minor change I didn't bring it up in a forum. I don't see how it particularly adds a lot of complexity however; all you have to do to show the subcategories on the Category:Equipment Icons page is click the "+" next to a category that has subcategories and they show up right. If anything it could in theory make finding an icon faster, since now say throwing pouch icons aren't mixed in with bow icons but rather have their own category.

Eventually all the equipment icons on the wiki will go away and icons will simply be referenced by a number and pulled from the SOE data feed/API. It should be coming some time this year, it just depends on when I can find the time to do the necessary work on the back-end and come up with a tool to quickly look up the icon number. --lordebon (talk) 17:39, January 19, 2014 (UTC)

Interesting! Where will this "number" be found? Sounds so much easier. I can't wait to give it a go.

(Talk) 19:08, January 19, 2014 (UTC)

The number is looked up via the same API. For the first phase, what I'd like to do is basically have a link you'd click that searches the API for the item name and, if there's only one match (as there would be for 99% of items), returns the icon number to copy/paste in. If you want to see a (rough) example of how it works, take a look at Template:Lordebon Dev, which builds an icon using the icon number (in the example, 3748) and the rarity. It's not complete as I need to generate true background icons (the various colored 'clouds' you see as background in-game) and hook them up, right now it just uses a solid colored background for testing purposes. --lordebon (talk) 20:08, January 19, 2014 (UTC)

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 == Startpage Menu Reform needed badly! ==
 I wrote it 1-2 years ago, nothing happened, same old useless oversized space-wasting menu is here. I suggest the following:
 . the TOV logo needs to be half size at least, way too big!
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 * one goal is also to make the NEWS section even visible by reducing the height of the above stuff
 [[User:Rittmeister64|Rittmeister64]] ([[User talk:Rittmeister64|talk]]) 14:26, February 7, 2014 (UTC)
 ==Happy Frostfell!==