Forum:Incorrect naming and capitalization on the Fallout Shelter pages

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Forums: Index > Wiki discussion > Incorrect naming and capitalization on the Fallout Shelter pages

I have noticed that the names we call the items in Fallout shelter are either not capitalized the same way in game as they are on our wiki or they are sometimes called something different all together. I feel that as we are a wiki and it is our goal to bring the most accurate information about the fallout series to viewers that it is our responsibility to fix this and not continue to favor our own naming standards over that of the in-game name.

Examples:

• Bottle_cap_(Fallout_Shelter) are called CAPS and they are never called "bottle caps" in-game.
• All resources are spelled with all caps in-game. Water is called WATER, Power is called POWER, Food is called FOOD, a Stimpak_(Fallout_Shelter) is called a STIMPAK, and a RadAway (Fallout Shelter) is called a RADAWAY.
• All weapons have the first character of each word in their name capitalized. The Tuned_alien_blaster is called Tuned Alien Blaster in-game.
• All outfits have the first character of each word in their name capitalized. The Tenpenny's suit (Fallout Shelter) is called Tenpenny's Suit in-game.

While these changes are not in line with proper English grammar, they are the official names of the items and we have a responsibility to our viewers to give them the most accurate information possible.
Lord Onions: Dat Onion Ring Luvin Fox! (Talk) 05:21, August 29, 2015 (UTC)

Comments

Caps are listed as Bottle cap (Fallout Shelter) because it distinguishes it from the other game articles that describe how to gain them. How we gain them in Shelter is different than the other games. Same with the other items. RadAway and Stimpaks have different effects in each game and thus have different pages for each game. As for the Tenpenny's suit vs Tenpenny's Suit, we have fought over this for a long time and have concluded that how we are doing it now, whist not entirely grammatically correct is how we do it. I hope that helps clear up some stuff.--Kingclyde (talk) 06:53, August 29, 2015 (UTC)

I was not saying that they shouldn't have seperate pages, I was saying that it should be called using the same word in-game. Bottle cap (Fallout Shelter) should be changed to Caps (Fallout Shelter) at the very least. People coming to learn about CAPS in fallout shelter are going to be looking for "caps" not "bottle caps". Our Articles should be in-sync with the in-game name.Lord Onions: Dat Onion Ring Luvin Fox! (Talk) 16:47, August 29, 2015 (UTC)

Over-capitalization is actually against our rules - please see: FW:NAME

As an encyclopedia, it was decided by the old vanguard, and has been reinforced a few different times since the split between our communities, that proper English conventions should always prevail on this wiki. And as English conventions dictate, only proper nouns are to be capitalized - the developers/publishers, do not get to dictate the English language.

It is well understood for a lot of different people and wikis, that in-game spellings are more convenient and recognized by the fans. But another thing that should be taken into account, is that not even Bethesda/Interplay/Obsidian/Zenimax/Prima, are consistent with their grammer. Brahmin, for example, has been regarded to as both a proper noun, and a non-proper noun throughout the games. Same goes for many words, such as: raider, wasteland, vault, dweller, super mutant, ghoul, etc. etc. etc.

So if we were to allow these sources to dictate the English language on our wiki, it would be wildly inconsistent - especially with the introduction of all-capped words, such as seen with: CAPS, WATER, FOOD, etc. etc. etc. - I think we can all agree, that Nukapedia definitely does not need any more inconsistency, as all inconsistency does, is confuse our editors as to what the proper way to edit is. User:Sarkhan the Sojourner 07:10, August 29, 2015 (UTC)

And I'm saying we need to rethink the guidelines on over-capitalization for Fallout Shelter. There is no in-game inconsistency in Fallout Shelter for the spellings of items and resources. In Fallout Shelter all weapons and armor are "over-capitalized" and all resources are in full caps. Lord Onions: Dat Onion Ring Luvin Fox! (Talk) 16:47, August 29, 2015 (UTC)

I am still not really seeing a discernible argument as to why we should be ignoring proper English conventions. We are a professional wiki - letting the developers/publishers dictate improper English on our wiki, is very unprofessional.

You say that you want our articles to accurately portray the in-game spellings, but that argument is still a bit confusing to me, as the rules I just linked you to, already explains the solution that you are looking for. Please see:

“If the spelling used on the wiki is different from the in-game spelling, a redirect from the in-game spelling should be created.”— FW:NAME

The rules were created in a very specific manner, to allow for the best of both worlds. Our articles remain professional and in good relations to proper English conventions, while we still have the in-game spellings at the disposal of our search engine. User:Sarkhan the Sojourner 16:54, August 29, 2015 (UTC)

“It is revolting to have no better reason for a rule of law than that so it was laid down in the time of Henry IV. It is still more revolting if the grounds upon which it was laid down have vanished long since, and the rule simply persists from blind imitation of the past.”— Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr, 10 Harvard Law Review 457 (1897)

I'm not a policy fundamentalist. Policy is whatever we say it is now. If policy is wrong, or doesn't suit us, we change the policy, its as simple as that.

Personally I don't think we should be making assumptions about what the developer means and go by how they spell and punctuate it, and go by what the game says. However, if a single game is inconsistent, then that me gives the policy that exists a good reason to exist.

If I was to rewrite the policy from scratch today, I'd say where the relevant games are consistent in its usage, the game form should be preferred; Where there is an inconsistency, but a clearly predominantly form used in the relevant games, use that. If all else fails, fall back on a manual of style (and specify the Wikipedia Manual of Style, or the New York Times manual of style, or something like that). Agent c (talk) 17:33, August 29, 2015 (UTC)

Kind of irrelevant, since this topic has also been discussed thoroughly after the split, as well. In any case, I am not going to argue that - if the wiki decides to start using improper grammar, then that is this community's prerogative. I sincerely hope otherwise - academic writing is something that should be the pride of this wiki. Not something to consider archaic. User:Sarkhan the Sojourner 17:37, August 29, 2015 (UTC)

Fallout Shelter also capitalists (in places) the words "rooms", "extra" "rush" "bald" and "female" but not "baby" or "pregnant". Just throwing that out there. There isn't much consistency in how they capitalize.
And also no, food is not called FOOD in fallout shelter. It is sometimes presented as FOOD (on cards for example) to be ascetically pleasing, as are all the rooms and pretty much all text in the game (other than that spoke aloud and on challenges) but in objectives it appears as "Food" (as well as "Water" and "Power") I can tell you for certain that dwellers do not say that they could really use a "RADAWAY" and if you look in the "incidents tab of the help section Stimpaks are called "Stimpaks" (i.e. not full capitals).
Regardless, our capitalization policy (as stated above) states that we use grammatically correct capitalization, not in game casing, for our pages. Having us break this rule just for Fallout Shelter would be stupid, as why should a random side game for mobile be the exception? Either we have the rule for all games, or for no games. And if it's the latter we want then that is the conversation we should be having. JASPER//"Do you like hurting other people?" 16:29, September 29, 2015 (UTC)

Oh goody, this ol' horse. There is a certain group of people here that strongly believe that game objects are real things, and thus, choose to apply the English capitalization rules of said real things, to them. Despite the fact that these are all virtual objects that are named by the developer, which means that - like with all authors of a creative work, we should honor the names and capitalization, they gave their creations. As I've said before, the 10mm Pistol and Colonel Autumn's 10mm Pistol, are both 10mm pistols; but Colonel Autumn's 10mm Pistol, isn't a 10mm Pistol. Or, for a more modern example: An NPC named "Synth", is a synth. Nick Valentine is also a synth. But Nick Valentine isn't a Synth. Or, we can even get all real-world. Make sure you dodge a challenger's Dodge Challenger, on your way to your home, across from the depot, next to the Home Depot. In other words, just because it's a generic word, doesn't mean it isn't part of an actual name, that should be capitalized.

Not only is this incredibly simple to follow, it also reduces things like this conversation repeatedly showing up, inconsistencies, reverted edits, and the need for redirections. Also, changing the capitalization from what's in game, is far more jarring than any fear of "over-capitalization", to the average visitor. After all, visitors are used to seeing things capitalized the way they are in game. While I'm not saying that there aren't visitors here that are English majors, and have never played the game - I'm going to go out on a limb here, and say they're not very common. Digital Utopia (talk) 23:56, December 12, 2015 (UTC)

Digital, my thoughts exactly.--Kingclyde (talk) 06:31, December 13, 2015 (UTC)