User talk:Surgo/Archive 1

Bugs
Please add any new reports of bugs below here.
 * A reminder to figure out a solution to doing category exclusion for #ask to eliminate all dpl lists that use |notcategory=, such as on 3.5e Class Ability Components under the Published Abilities listing. --Ganteka Future 02:42, 20 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Non-pretty solution is to just add a new category, like "WotC" or "Published" or even reuse "SRD" (though it's not technically correct) to differentiate user created stuff from other, ending overlap and allowing a simple conjunction to find the proper pages. Since I think that's the only page that suffers like that, I don't think it would be hard to implement.- Tarkisflux 03:23, 20 October 2010 (UTC)
 * I've been asking for this feature in Semantic MediaWiki for over a year. I might hack it in myself. Surgo 13:01, 20 October 2010 (UTC)
 * I made a handy listing of all the remaining dpl using pages: User:Ganteka Future/DrawingBoard3 --Ganteka Future 18:24, 20 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Some of those need updating period, some of those can be converted to just use Category:User. Leave this one to me. Surgo 18:39, 20 October 2010 (UTC)


 * Don't know if this is a bug, but it doesn't look like any of the images from the wiki got ported over. Was this intentional, and if not, when can we expect to see the pictures get transferred? --Ghostwheel 08:30, 20 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Half-intentional. This is the easiest way to deal with licensing issues by far. I'd like properly licensed pictures to be ported though, that might be able to be done automatically when I have time (feel free to add pictures for your own stuff before then though).


 * Can we get the [SMW:ON/OFF] hack working over here? - Tarkisflux 07:30, 20 October 2010 (UTC)
 * I thought it was. It's two colons, not one. Surgo 12:58, 20 October 2010 (UTC)
 * It wasn't working before, and it still isn't (example). And yes, 2 colons, but then I have to nowiki it so you can see it, and I was feeling lazy. - Tarkisflux 15:05, 20 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Investigated the issue -- it appears to work fine for properties set by Property::Value, but not for properties set by Surgo 19:54, 20 October 2010 (UTC)
 * So, massive template update, or hack to make that work as well sometime? - Tarkisflux 19:55, 20 October 2010 (UTC)
 * I'll try to fix it in the SMW source. Surgo 20:15, 20 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Whenever you get around to fixing this in SMW source, can you also get the number type to recognize fractions? - Tarkisflux 22:17, 17 November 2010 (UTC)


 * If interwiki links to other wikia sites are supposed to still work, then this is a bug since they aren't right now. If they're not supposed to work, we're going to need to bot fix the canon section's external links (example at bottom of page). - Tarkisflux 01:55, 21 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Get me a list of the desired interwikis we want to work, and I can make it work. Surgo 01:56, 21 October 2010 (UTC)
 * List:
 * forgottenrealms.wikia.com
 * eberron.wikia.com
 * 
 * spelljammer.wikia.com would be nice as an interwiki link, too. It's good to see that links to Wikipedia already work nicely!


 * Forums are still broken, and don't list subforums / topics properly.
 * Print friendly pages apparently use part of the vector skin as background (border-dnd.png), turning the page gray. Example: as seen here. --Ganteka Future 06:31, 14 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Bug: Display error on 4e Powers List Articles. Powers with the correct Categories are not displaying on their appropriate Powers List.  Dpl error? --Jay Freedman 00:16, 15 November 2010 (UTC)
 * 4e problems are known. The entire 4e system needs overhaul. Surgo 00:21, 15 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Yeah, it's a DPL error. One that we're not going to fix in favor of migrating to semantic data for 4e like we have for 3.5e. I've thrown up a few ask querries on the black lion power page that you can copy/paste/adjust for the rest of the page to make it work properly. I could even make it include the powers if you wanted. - Tarkisflux 01:23, 15 November 2010 (UTC)
 * The querries will work for now. Thanks Tarkis.  We can talk more about format improvements on my talk page.  --Jay Freedman 01:54, 15 November 2010 (UTC)


 * Bug: The '4e Powers Breadcrumb' is incorrectly adding the text 'Powers' to anything imput into the '1=class name here' section. So my 'Black Lion (4e Powers List)' had to be moved to 'Black Lion Powers (4e Powers List)'.  Otherwise the link would show red.  --Jay Freedman 00:19, 15 November 2010 (UTC)
 * 4e problems are known. The entire 4e system needs overhaul. Surgo 00:21, 15 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Understood. Halting class construction in progress.  Thanks.  --Jay Freedman 00:24, 15 November 2010 (UTC)
 * No need to halt it, what's already there will be smoothly transitioned. Stuff just might not work fully until we fix it. Surgo 00:28, 15 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Very well. I'll finish the uploads and see if I can make it work.  Tarkis' querries will help the presentation be useable.  Thanks.  --Jay Freedman 01:54, 15 November 2010 (UTC)

A Round of Applause

 * Sup Surgo. I like the new site.  Good work.  Listen, you don't get thanked much for all that you do.  Comes with the territory, I guess.  Whatever the reasons...  Thanks.  No seriously.  Thank you.  Speaking frankly, I haven't contributed much to the sites.  But what I have, I feel is best shown with guys like you in charge.  Makes me feel like writing what I did, meant something.  If only to one person, then so be it.  I mean, we all know what crappy Admins look like.  It's rare to find a good one.  Even one as stubborn as you.  Heh.  ...From one user to another.  Good job.  And Godspeed.  --Jay Freedman 10:38, 20 October 2010 (UTC)

d20 NPCs transition
Hey Surgo, nice place you got here :)

It looks like the d20 NPCs Wikia wiki is pretty dead, as it seems I'm the only one active over there (transition forum post). So, if you're still willing to do some merging of the NPC content from that wiki, I'd love to continue to contribute to it here. The d20 NPCs wiki had d20 Modern, Star Wars, Mutants and Masterminds, and some others, in addition to 3.5e D&D NPCs. I'm really only interested in the D&D 3.5e NPCs personally. So, a few questions:
 * Do you think it appropriate to expand the 3.5e NPCs area here with content from the d20 NPCs wiki?
 * If so, a simple database dump may not fit with the naming conventions that you have here; what naming convention(s) would be best for that content?
 * StatPathfinder sample.png d20 NPCs had been using their own template based of the DMG2-style stat block, and a "Short" stat block for doing inline, paragraph-style stats. I'd have to look more deeply at your Stat Block 2 template, but things I like about the d20 NPCs variants that I helped develop include allowing a partial stat block (useful if you want to have a "when not raging"/"when raging" block for Barbarians that only shows what changes, or "in wolf form" for werewolves and other shape-shifters), and the look is more literally like what's in the DMG2 (making it easy to skim a stat block if you're used to reading published materials). I also have created a "Pathfinder" style template for my own personal wiki, that I never took over to the d20 NPCs wiki that I could add here, if it's useful. So, should imports from the d20 NPCs wiki be converted to your template(s), or should the template(s) here be updated and convert the NPCs you have here to a new template?
 * The d20 NPCs wiki has a DieRoll template (along with the javascript to make it work) that allows die rolling right from the stat blocks; could we add something like that here, for DMs to play NPCs right off the page from a laptop at the gaming table?

-- MidnightLightning ☇(talk) 13:48, 20 October 2010 (UTC)


 * In order:
 * Yes
 * For cleanliness, a merge would be performed by making a "d20npcs" namespace and importing all your articles into that then moving them into their own namespace. I'd probably be up for creating a new namespace, NPC:, to hold the sudden influx.
 * I believe the best idea here is to make a new version of Stat Block 2 (with a better name), that's capable of also outputting a short stat block. If you read that template you'll note it's a total mess; I'd like to reimplement it in Winter or Lua to be cleaner. With those languages it should be much easier to have a short form stat block as well.
 * I don't see why not.


 * Surgo 18:42, 20 October 2010 (UTC)


 * Great! Well, I'll do some work seeing if I can get a customized database export of d20 NPCS that only includes the D&D NPCs. Regarding updating the NPC template, what is the benefit of Winter/Lua over existing parser functions? I can see where the extra Winter functions would be useful for looping and branching, but the only branching the template needs to do is a "if variable is empty", which Mediawiki already has parser functions for. The only real advanced math that gets done is calculating an ability score's modifier if you wanted to do that dynamically, which can be done with parser functions (like this), but might be shorter/cleaner in Winter/Lua?


 * In thinking about this more, probably the best first steps would be to start with the NPC template, and get the NPCs that are already here updated and working with the new template, and then get a dump from d20 NPCs and integrate them. I took a look around at the existing NPCs you've got here, and I have a few suggestions on them. You and the other editors here have done an excellent job organizing and displaying custom Class, Race, Template, Feat, Spell, etc. content, but it looks like the NPC organization has some room for improvement. My suggestions from an outside perspective are:
 * Some of custom Classes pages have sample NPCs (like the Grim class). I'd suggest moving the NPC to their own page, and cross-linking it from the Class page. That way, the semantic data about the NPC is separate from the data about the Class.
 * If a separate namespace like "NPC:" is setup, should custom Monsters be added to that namespace as well? I can't think of a generic term that includes both NPCs and Monsters, other than "creatures", which doesn't sound right for humanoid NPCs... if there was a term to unify those two groups, that would likely be the best option.
 * Improving the template used could add several organizational benefits, including:
 * Most of the NPCs here are created from custom Classes also posted here. NPCs in published materials reference sources when using non-SRD content, and the d20 NPCs wiki did that with a "uses Rulebook" semantic field. I'd suggest a semantic field like "uses source" to be able to link to pages in this wiki with the custom content, or a WotC sourcebook. Ensuring that NPCs have links to their sources, especially custom ones, would allow a DM thinking of using that NPC the ability to quickly see if the custom class/feat/etc. has been given Balance Points, to get a sense of how it would mesh with their campaign.
 * In the current template, the Creature Type links to the SRD page on that creature type. And while the creature type pages have a list of creatures with that type, the semantic query on those pages is only for SRD creatures. So for a creature like the Aerodactyl, clicking on its type leads you to the SRD:Dragon Type page, but that page doesn't list the Aerodactyl as a NPC using that type. Maybe simply adding a "View all (including non-SRD) creatures of this Type" link under the SRD table, leading to a full-wiki semantic search for that creature type would do the trick.
 * Die rolling right from the template
 * Add a "Race" semantic property, which for custom races on this wiki, could then include in the race description a quick link to "Creatures using this race"
 * Add a toggle to not have semantic data for that entry (such that for short blocks, like barbarian "while raging" blocks, the semantic data doesn't double-up)


 * -- MidnightLightning ☇(talk) 19:29, 20 October 2010 (UTC)


 * You'll have to do the database dump for D&D NPCs yourself. Make a semantic query that lists every appropriate NPC, then copy/paste that list into Special:Export. Don't include templates, and include the whole history. Gzip that and send it over to me.


 * As far Creature subtypes go, the "Classic Monster" template already checks if the subtype is in the SRD and links to the SRD if it is, or the custom subtype pages if it's not. (This is one of the many conditionals/branches that get used in monster templates that I think you aren't currently seeing in "Stat Block 2" because it's just too much of a pain to edit.) The SRD subtype pages could be so enhanced.


 * That toggle...again, another advantage of having Winter/Lua. Doing anything with parser functions is insanely verbose and hard to modify. Also, the toggle in general may be broken right now. We'll see what's up. Surgo 19:49, 20 October 2010 (UTC)


 * It would be relatively easy to add an ask query to the SRD Type pages that listed homebrew monsters and NPCs with that type in addition to the SRD ones. It's just a manual thing that we need to add if we want, and then probably clearly indicate it is not a part of the SRD. You can also sort by type on the monster page though, though that may be insufficiently easy.


 * We can do any new properties we need to and I like the idea of doing a "Race" property that can be used to list them on race pages. "Uses Rulebook" seems somewhat excessive to me though, since I don't see why we'd ever search for it and standard references on a page seem sufficient to point people at stuff that we can't post here due to copyright. Am I missing something there? - Tarkisflux 17:19, 21 October 2010 (UTC)


 * I've found a "Uses Rulebook" data element most useful because it's always in the same place on the page (Semantic datablock), and I know immediately if this NPC uses custom content (so, generally they're good for exclusion searches; if you're a PC and your DM has excluded certain content, or you as DM want to follow your own guidelines). Having the standard reference at the top of the stat block for class and race, with the spell list for custom spells, and with feats for custom feats means you may miss a reference on first read. I definitely think each NPC should cite where its content comes from, but if we don't want to make it Semantic, that's not critical in my eyes. -- MidnightLightning ☇(talk) 21:01, 21 October 2010 (UTC)


 * Exclusionary searches are a fair call that I hadn't considered, so I'm sold. I've also modified the SRD:Aberration Type page to show homebrew monsters. Was that what you had in mind? - Tarkisflux 22:19, 21 October 2010 (UTC)


 * So if you want to install the Winter plugin, I'd be happy to start messing around with options (sandbox started over at User:MidnightLightning/Stat templates). -- MidnightLightning ☇(talk) 13:37, 22 October 2010 (UTC)


 * It's already installed; feel free to use Lua too if you wish (that's installed as well). I was hoping to get to it myself this weekend. The end result needs to be readable (the code, that is). The current code is not readable. Surgo 15:40, 22 October 2010 (UTC)


 * Okay, I've got a list of articles from the d20NPCs wiki. The individual page list is on my scratch page if you want that for automated bot edits or such. The actual XML file can be grabbed from mediafire -- MidnightLightning ☇(talk) 14:31, 3 December 2010 (UTC)


 * Just checking in; it's been a few months and I'm getting back to editing my own D&D articles. Has anything come of the d20 NPCs import idea? -- MidnightLightning ☇(talk) 20:53, 8 February 2011 (UTC)


 * Ah, I was worried you had vanished! I didn't want to do anything without having you around to admin it -- I'd be happy to get the ball rolling now. Hop into chat at some point. Surgo 21:46, 8 February 2011 (UTC)

Winter issue
Not sure this a bug, or a syntax error of mine - entering the following on a page

should yield "level one level two level three", but instead it yields " level one {{#if | 1 ". It actually looks like things three levels deep are not being evaluated properly. Is the $wgWinterMaxNesting variable set to something much less than the default 50? -- MidnightLightning ☇(talk) 19:51, 22 October 2010 (UTC)


 * Not sure if this applies to winter, but don't you need a colon after each #if?


 * That's what separates the Winter functions from the ParserFunctions; ParserFunctions have a colon, Winter functions don't. --184.60.8.69 00:07, 23 October 2010 (UTC)


 * If you think Winter sucks, we don't have to use it. We can use Lua or Scheme (I can make an extension that calls an external Scheme interpreter). Surgo 01:12, 23 October 2010 (UTC)


 * I'm not saying Winter sucks, I'm saying Winter isn't working like its documentation seems to say it should be. If it's a syntax error of mine, I suck. If the extension is not doing what it says it should be doing, then the extension sucks. Or at least that's what I'm interpreting; I haven't worked with Winter or Lua or Scheme before, and picked Winter because it looked easiest to pick up. I'll give Lua a try too and see how that works out. -- MidnightLightning ☇(talk) 15:53, 23 October 2010 (UTC)


 * I installed the Winter plugin on my home wiki, and got the same result, so it's likely not just the installation here. I left a comment for the Extension creator, and we'll see what happens. -- MidnightLightning ☇(talk) 13:36, 25 October 2010 (UTC)


 * The Winter creator responded and indeed it is a bug with the extension, that will be fixed in the next version (whenever that is). -- MidnightLightning ☇(talk) 17:32, 30 November 2010 (UTC)

Lua not working
Aaaaand, the Lua extension seems to not be responding properly either: &raquo; print("Hello World!") &laquo; yields this: &raquo; print("Hello World!") &laquo; (an empty string return). Also, the #luaexpr parser function breaks the page (putting it in a page causes the server to return a blank page (hard to un-edit...). So I'm guessing the Lua interpreter that the extension is trying to hand off to is not handling things properly? -- MidnightLightning ☇(talk) 13:16, 25 October 2010 (UTC)


 * I haven't been able to test it myself yet, I'll take a look when I get home.97.252.91.224 17:01, 25 October 2010 (UTC)


 * Had a chance to take a look at this yet? I'll move forward with the NPC template redesign once some extension is working properly. -- MidnightLightning ☇(talk) 19:26, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

Call to Arms!
Could you take a look at either my: Sith/ Jedi (3.5e Class), Uongo-mijusi (3.5e Race), or Viveka Spectre (3.5e Prestige Class)? Thanks --Franken Kesey 00:51, 28 October 2010 (UTC)

Is anyone moderating the old wiki?
I was wondering if anyone was moderating the old wiki, because I had put the delete template on my work there (after my work was transferred over to here) mainly because I was not going to update both wikis, and I dndnt want people to confuse the two. They have not been deleted yet, and I have resorted to blanking the page, keeping only the delete template and the sentence "You just lost The Game" The Dire Reverend 20:20, 28 October 2010 (UTC)


 * I am, but I'm also waiting to see how the current delete requests and page blanking plays out with wikia staff given the way they're handling other wikis that have left. I'm going to give it another week or so before I start deleting stuff just in case. Any of the other guys who used to admin there can beat me to it though, since no one has lost rights over there as far as I can tell. - Tarkisflux 20:59, 28 October 2010 (UTC)


 * Well, my article at the old wiki is 1/5 so according to your policy, it needs to be deleted anyways. The Dire Reverend 21:14, 28 October 2010 (UTC)


 * Yeah, but there's a 30 day from last edit countdown on that one (that I'm ignoring in favor of the delete request). I'll do it, but if you want it gone sooner than I've said I'm going to you could probably bug any of these guys over here. - Tarkisflux 21:38, 28 October 2010 (UTC)

Wiki Transfer Service
To help bring more content to DnD-Wiki, I want to propose a transfer service of content from any source to the wiki. I would be running it, and start out with a thread in the GitP homebrew forums. Before I do this though, I wish to obtain permission from you. As such, I am requesting permission. --Havvy 18:23, 5 November 2010 (UTC)


 * Sure. Sounds like good advertising in any case! Surgo 22:47, 5 November 2010 (UTC)


 * Permission acknowledged. --Havvy 22:48, 5 November 2010 (UTC)


 * This probably goes without saying, but make sure that anyone you offer transcription to gives you permission to post their work under the CC-BY-SA 3.0. It's kinda important. - Tarkisflux 22:50, 5 November 2010 (UTC)

Racial Vital Stat Templates
To help hide wiki syntax from users who don't want to see it, I think that the racial vital stats should be templates. As such, I went and created a template:

This is for the racial starting age only. The other two tables can be made just as easily. Can I get your go-ahead (or anybody who has permission) to change the racial preload to remove the hard-coded table and add the templates in? --Havvy 08:04, 7 November 2010 (UTC)


 * Sure, simplification improvements are good. Have yourself a party. - Tarkisflux 17:24, 7 November 2010 (UTC)

deletion of article on nethack
Hi, I see you deleted Nethack with edit summary "Blatant abuse of admin authority: We aren't Wikipedia, this is nothing but spam".

I created that article in dnd.wikia.com because Vercalos asked for it, and because the game is based strongly enough on editions 1-2 of Dungeons and Dragons to make an article seem fitting.

D&D and Nethack are quite similar, especially earlier versions. The entire melee combat system was copied, and the catalogue of weapons and monsters mostly copied. Later, there were additions from all kinds of sources. Today, a player of D&D will still feel mostly at home. Unfortunately, I don't really know D&D.

Also, I don't understand your point about admin authority: I am not an admin at any D&D related wiki, and ordinary editing work doesn't have anything to do with adminship as I understand it.

There certainly must be a good place for articles on derivative works and the influence of D&D, given how much is based on D&D. Would you please point me somewhere appropriate? Tjr 22:40, 7 November 2010 (UTC)


 * Blatant abuse of admin authority was my reason for deleting it. It's kind of a joke around these parts. We are not dnd.wikia, though dnd.wikia has merged into us. This, however, is a wiki about homebrew, canon, and publishing information. If you can find an appropriate place to place an article about Nethack you are welcome to create it. However, I was a bit soured when I saw the same article on any number of wikis, all being updated with the same link. Copypasta isn't the kind of thing we're looking for here, and if there's to be an article on Nethack it needs to be more about how it fits into the overall context of the game and less an advertisement. Surgo 22:45, 7 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Copy-paste, Advertisement: ok.
 * "Find an appropriate place" is exactly my question. For example, would an article at Canon:Nethack/Canon:Roguelike be ok if it explores the similarities between Nethack/Roguelikes and D&D, and then adds a link to Nethack (which is closest AFAIK)? Tjr 05:54, 8 November 2010 (UTC)


 * That sounds fine to me. Surgo 02:45, 9 November 2010 (UTC)


 * I could add in a section on Ancient Domains of Mystery, Nethack's more serious (for better or worse) cousin. Dr. Biskup is an avid Pen-and-Pencil RPG player, and ADOM shows heavy DnD influence.  Similar to Nethack, there has been a lot of evolution and things added that aren't in ADnD, etc., and strangely enough, a few things that pre-empted 3rd edition (talents->feats, etc.).  But yeah, I could put something together, or contact... someone who could do it better?  Not convinced that this is the right place for this all. -- Aelaris 16:24, 2 January 2011 (UTC)

inputbox
HTML5 has client side validation. One way of having it work is to use the attribute 'pattern=REGEX'. Perchance can it be made a parameter for the inputbox code to build into this. That way we can make it so that users cannot make the page named 'Somename' when 'Somename (3.5e Blah)' is preferred. If it is non-trivial to fix, this doesn't have to be done, but if it is, I can go about making the inputboxes stricter. Would hopefully lower the amount of page moves needed. --Havvy 03:30, 11 November 2010 (UTC)


 * Client side validation is already possible, even with regular expressions, using javascript. It might or might not be trivial, I haven't examined the extension's source code. Surgo 03:38, 11 November 2010 (UTC)


 * The point is that with HTML5, it doesn't hurt those who don't have browsers that don't understand it while it provides a simple (hard to get wrong) validation step. --Havvy 09:03, 18 November 2010 (UTC)

recent speedy delete requests
Yes, I do realise that I could just blank then put new stuff. But the page history would still keep it. Simply the creator of some of the quotes did not want their stuff here. And would like to delete any and all traces of their work.


 * That's cool, no problem. I can hide individual revisions, but it'd probably be difficult to find a single revision that had the quote. Surgo 03:14, 18 November 2010 (UTC)

Ability Tags
I know, I ask too much of you...but you have Eclipse and bot editing...could you go through races, classes, monsters, and templates looking for the following text:


 * (Ex)
 * (Su)
 * (Sp)
 * (Ps)
 * (Ex)
 * (Ps)
 * (Sp)
 * (Su)

And replace them with, ,  , and PS undefined

Thanks. --Havvy 08:19, 18 November 2010 (UTC)

Character Optimization Bookmarks
Can you change all instances of to  for pages that have the categories of "Optimized Character Build" OR "Character Optimization Guide"?

Pictures
Could you move pics that have sourced fair use etc from old wiki to this one? Thanks. --Ghostwheel 02:31, 13 December 2010 (UTC)

Page protection
My sourcebook has been receiving many unwanted changes by IP addresses. I was wondering if said pages could be protected so that only logged in people could edit it (or more preferably only me and AShadowofLife, but I don't know if that is possible), along with all subpages.

The article in question is here.


 * We protected one page already for this reason, no reason we can't do the rest as well. They'll be protected against IP edits. Surgo 15:26, 30 November 2010 (UTC)


 * Does protecting one page also protect all of it's subpages?


 * I don't think so. There's a ton of pages though, and I'm watching pretty closely now -- I'll protect any that get spammed. Surgo 03:22, 2 December 2010 (UTC)


 * I have reverted two edits on the sub pages, apparently they are not protected. Would you be so kind as to block each sub page? Also Does this happen to a lot of other articles, or is there a mystery Bleach hater in our midst?The Dire Reverend 03:23, 12 January 2011 (UTC)


 * I'll block the subpages. I think it's an AI system that just likes the anime bleach. Surgo 03:52, 12 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Ironic that the admin's page (not its talk page, but the main user page) was vandalized today. This (user, not talk) page needs to be protected post-haste! T.G. Oskar 23:46, 10 June 2012 (UTC)


 * It was previously and that protection, disappeared or something. Seriously, the log shows that I protected a year and a half ago and then I re-protected it again this morning. Protection should be fixed now though. - Tarkisflux Talk 00:19, 11 June 2012 (UTC)

Config File Limit
Did the config file limit for query results (from this discussion) get raised over here? - Tarkisflux 01:06, 9 December 2010 (UTC)

Homebrewed Diseases
Im sorry diden't know were to go with this but for my comming uploading to this wiki i have a few homemade Diseases and don't know were to put them... By the way top job on this briliant wiki.Born to Be Wild 00:47, 10 December 2010 (UTC)


 * I would place them in (3.5e Other) if you don't know where they go. As far as diseases, paleowiki had a spot for them, but we seemed to lose that spot.  I'd say (3.5e Equipment) or (3.5e Glossary) are the closest places we have for them, but neither seem to fit.  Place them in (3.5e Other) for now.  There doesn't even seem to be a template for diseases.  --Havvy 07:01, 10 December 2010 (UTC)


 * There isn't a template currently, but that just means you need to do your own formatting. When you make a new one, put it in the "3.5e", "User", and "Disease" categories and put (3.5e Disease) at the end of the page title. It will show up in the new disease table in 3.5e Other. I plan on keeping diseases in other until we get a huge pile of them (and they're worth their own page) or someone comes up with a more fitting location for them. - Tarkisflux 03:04, 12 December 2010 (UTC)


 * gona put it there thx. Born to Be Wild 21:38, 13 December 2010 (UTC)

Wiki Transfer
Sorry to bother you at this time, but I'm having a tough time with the new Wikia setup and my new content for my new RPG. Unfortunately, the new Wikia has made my content a little less than organized and I was wondering if I could merge some of my stuff to here. The new content that I have closely resembles (or at least matches) that of D&D 4e content.

The only page that I have updated is this one, but I don't like how some of it is not neatly organized-- the table is screwed up, and I had to edit the d*** thing over and over just to get it neat to the best of my ability, but It doesn't seem to work... http://magichroniclesrpg.wikia.com/wiki/Human_Race

If you could help me out, I would greatly appreciate it. If not, no worries.--Xeadin 21:03, 10 December 2010 (UTC)

Paleowiki Formatting Articles
I noticed that you had a hand in creating http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Character_Class_Design_Guidelines_%28DnD_Guideline%29 and was wondering if we were allowed to move it to this wiki. Now, you didn't create http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Help:Standards_and_Formatting_%28DnD_Guideline%29, but I was wondering if we were also allowed to take that? Ultimately, they will have to be edited, and I'll have to move various parts of what I've added to Standards and Formatting to other pages, but as long as formatting conventions are written, might we copy it? --Havvy 09:17, 20 December 2010 (UTC)


 * We can't take either, they are both GFDL. I'm not sure I really want a "Character Class Design Guideline" on the site either. Surgo 15:15, 20 December 2010 (UTC)

Publications
Why is it that there is a Feats section in the publications, and why are they commented out? --Havvy 07:01, 25 December 2010 (UTC)


 * Indexing. There was, at one point, an attempt to index each book, but it looks like only the feats ever got indexed. Surgo 01:34, 4 January 2011 (UTC)

Search working
Thanks a lot for extending the search, I think this is really helpful. Can I still bother you with one more request: Could you perhaps also include the "DnDWiki"-namespace in the search, too? I know those articles might not be up to standard, but for me it will take a lot more time to adapt them all. And if they were found by the search function, other users might meanwhile find the articles, use them and possibly improve them faster. Thanks again. Daranios 19:28, 23 January 2011 (UTC)

Your a Bureaucrat.
MAKE GHOST WHEEL AN ADMINISTRATOR!--Parakee 23:38, 27 January 2011 (UTC)


 * What is your relation to Ghostwheel? Surgo 23:44, 27 January 2011 (UTC)

Extension Suggestion
I suggest installing http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Replace_Text.


 * Oh shit. Yes please :-D - Tarkisflux 16:20, 7 February 2011 (UTC)

Overpowered classes on the wiki
So, If I (and several GMs that have view it) believe a class is overpowered, would I be able to copy that class, and then make my own version of it on the wiki, provided that I mention the original creator and link to the original version? Would that be in bad taste?The Dire Reverend 06:23, 14 February 2011 (UTC)


 * The answer to the first question is "yes, this material is all CC-BY-SA and you can take it and remix it as long as you give credit", and the answer to the second is "it depends". If you think it's overpowered for it's balance level, the best course of action would be to explain why you feel that way on it's talk page and try to get the article updated. Overpowered for it's balance level is actually bad here, and we want to fix that if that's the case. If you actually want the class at a different power level then you can make an alternate class feature package that deals with the changes (Ghostwheel has done a couple of those), assuming they are small enough to fit into an ACF reasonably. If there's too much for an ACF then you're more likely making a class inspired by the old one because you'll be changing a lot of things in it. At that point there's nothing really wrong with just making a class with a different name or even "Same Name, Dire Reverend Variant" if you wanted to, but a note about it being inspired by the original class would be nice along with the required citations for anything you actually do use in full. - Tarkisflux 07:08, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Articles in need of rating
The Forum:Articles in Need of Ratings was deleted by you because of backlog, and I was wondering when/if it would be back.The Dire Reverend 23:17, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

The NPC Trainwreck
On advisement by Guntank I'm told I should share this with you. As you can see, I did a number on the NPC Preload and made it, well, actually functional. It's still not great though, and one of the big issues is of course the spells. The current preload has list after list for divine epic spells, arcane epic spells, epic powers, etc. but when it gets to normal spells and powers people use, it's this bizaare sub-template which requires a Master's degree to figure out what they're saying. I understand you'll be eventually doing some kind of merging hooha with the NPCs and something else, so hopefully this helps:


 * abletype1, 2, 3=What kind of special ability is it? Sorcerer casting?  Swordsage maneuvers?  Spell-like abilities?  Whatever, you define it.
 * ableopt=For caster level, manifester level, arcane spell failure, whatever
 * ableDC=13 + spell level, whatever
 * ableknow0-9=magic missile or Wolf Fang Fist or whatever. Either you know it or its in your spellbook.
 * ablespont=3/day, at will, or whatever, for spontaneous casters
 * ableprep0-9=For prepared casters or maneuvers needing, your usual preperation. magic missile x2, grease, color spray
 * ablestance=For stances, since their the black sheep.
 * epicknow=What epic spells you know
 * epicspont=Since they only come in that form, how many epic spells per day.

This. This right here should cover everything, from maneuvers to powers to spells arcane, divine, whatever. And much, much shorter and cleaner and more understandable than the current mess.

Naturally I have no idea how to go about implementing this... got anything? -- Eiji-kun 05:00, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

Insert Box Additions
I've been using the Registered symbol quite frequently on the product blurbs of publications. Can you add that and the trademark symbol to the list of Symbols on the Insert-box for editing pages? Thanks in advanced. --Havvy 00:07, 22 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Can you paste the exact registered symbol for me here? I'll add it then. Surgo 21:01, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

April Fools..?
I nearly died of a panic attack. You sneaky bastard :) --For Valor 21:30, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

UA Namespace
This namespace is finally clear. Everything has been moved into the Publication ns as a subpage of Pub:UA, all of the links have been updated through replace text, and the redirects left in UA have been nuked. If you'd be so kind as to remove that namespace, I'd appreciate it :-D - Tarkisflux 00:24, 10 April 2011 (UTC)

Persistent Spell (3.5e Feat)
I was wondering if you could make edit it to be a bit more in line with the other spellcasting feats. The point that is most out of line is 1 rst level spells, and the 3rd level spell part is a bit weird too (why int mod?).
 * lvl1: You may extend up to your casting stat modifier in spells per day. When you have extended a number of spells equal to your casting stat modifier.
 * lvl3: You may choose to Extend your spells. These spells must not be of a level higher than the maximum you can cast -2. - Sergejsvk 14:01, 12 April 2011 (UTC)

CAPCHA Please
As much as I hate it, I rather we have CAPCHA than deal with the spam. I say this only because of a troubling new development.... ones that don't log in with names, just work as IP addresses, and have learned to edit pre-existing pages. Including, ironically, this very page. I reverted it quickly but I rather not wake up and find have my stuff has been turned into gibberish. A quick look up says this is a "comment spammer" but this is not my forte. Anyway, consider this a vote in favor of CAPCHA. I understand they considered it, but have not placed it in effect because of fear it would scare unregistered editors away.

I dunno about you, but if recent changes shows anything most editors seem to be registered. Am I wrong? -- Eiji-kun 09:29, 14 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Recent change filled with spam will also scare a few unregistered editor... probably more.--Leziad 09:32, 14 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Just updating, even though I know you haven't gotten here yet. The spambots are pretty intense, I've had like 20 in the last 4 hours, no joke.  They're deleting pages and everything and frankly, I will have to sleep eventually.  Hopefully daytime admins will appear soon, or better, you.  (EDIT: Due to the sheer number of edits, I'm temporarily protecting some of the pages, namely the SRD ones.  They aren't homebrew so they don't get edit'd often.) -- Eiji-kun 12:07, 14 April 2011 (UTC)


 * As someone who updates infrequently but still loves the site, I wouldn't be put off by any captcha stuff. I am just sayin'. -- Spanambula 17:00, 14 April 2011 (UTC)


 * I got a call from Ganteka at lunch time. As soon as I got back I put on a CAPTCHA for all non-email-confirmed edits. It's pretty basic right now and will probably get broken soon, I'll install some better stuff ASAP. If you need email confirmation, I can do it manually if the email doesn't work. Surgo 18:06, 14 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Is the equation thing the captcha?The Dire Reverend 22:38, 14 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Yeah, though that is expected to be upgraded shortly(ish). If you're currently getting that you should go into your preferences and get an email address confirmation sent to you. Or an admin can manually clear you if there's an issue with the email. - Tarkisflux 00:57, 15 April 2011 (UTC)

Whoopie, no rights
So I was looking around on how do I manually confirm someone's email, and I found Special:UserRights, but ironically I don't have permission to muck about it. Whoops. Am I looking at the wrong page, or is there some other way I'm supposed to be going about?

User that needs confirming is The Dire Reverend by the by. -- Eiji-kun 19:25, 15 April 2011 (UTC)


 * That's the right page Eiji. It's just a bureaucrat only thing (which Surgo and I forgot about apparently when we were talking about the sitenotice). :-(


 * The Dire Reverend looks like he's set already, but I'll flag him anyway just to be sure. - Tarkisflux 20:46, 15 April 2011 (UTC)

Green Dragon just relented
So, Jota posts on his Economist Talk Page. Green Dragon blocks Jota for 'spamming links to external site'. As near as I can make out, an IP-lurker was moved to act on this. They undid Green Dragon's revert. Green Dragon undid that. ANOTHER IP reverted Green Dragon. Badger, one of the admins, altered Jota's reply and said 'We can agree this is a happy medium'. Same IP changed that with a summary of "No, I think we can't" and then added an edit calling out Green Dragon for blocking Jota for something Jota did not do. The result was, Green Dragon unblocked Jota, blocked the IPs for 'edit-warring' and then JazzMan and Badger both called out Green Dragon for blocking people 'spamming links to external sites' when it's only one site. It seems Green Dragon is now allowing mention to the other wiki. And links, if they're on user pages. If you want the details, check out the Economist Talk page history and Green Dragon's talk page. --Genowhirl 17:20, 25 May 2011 (UTC)


 * Oops, spoke too soon. It appears Green Dragon still has the idea he can shut this place down with a court case. --Genowhirl 17:59, 25 May 2011 (UTC)


 * ololololol, So silly. The cycle returns once more, people realize that GD is a despot and largely irrational. Who knows, they might even join us here? Who knows. At any rate, it's entertaining to say the least as the sucky wiki foments once more with the seeds of dissent against retarded policies. --Ghostwheel 19:17, 25 May 2011 (UTC)


 * I'm just going to pipe in here. I'm not actually an admin. GD is still coo-coo bananas, and I'm trying to show him how irrational he's being. The upside, other than this being fun for me, is that there now exists a link to this site on our "DnD Links" page that won't go away (easily). --The Badger 19:58, 25 May 2011 (UTC)


 * It appears he's softening for real this time. I'm not entirely sure, he could still change his mind. But, yes, he's not banning people for questioning him. Which is a step forward, I think. --Genowhirl 02:41, 26 May 2011 (UTC)

Shortcuts
Hello! As the Wikipedia-shortcuts are working so fine, would it perhaps be possible to also introduce such shortcuts for the Forgotten Realms Wiki - at the moment, w:c:forgottenrealms is used in several articles for http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/ - and possibly Spelljammer Wiki - w:c:Spelljammer is used at the moment for http://spelljammer.wikia.com/wiki/. Of course I could change the used shortcuts into the links, but being able to use the shortcuts would be very convenient. Thanks! Daranios 12:15, 2 June 2011 (UTC)
 * Actually, now the next shortcut used in the old wiki has appeared: "Eberron" was used so far as a shortcut to the Eberron Wiki. It would be great if these shortcuts could be realized! Daranios 18:38, 26 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Hello once more! I wanted to ask again if it would be possible to install shortcuts to related wikis? Thanks! Daranios 19:01, 21 January 2012 (UTC)


 * This was actually scheduled for the maint that we had last month, and would have been completed if a DNS issue with our host hadn't blocked things. I'm not sure if it has been resolved yet or not, but as soon as it is we're going forward with the special interwiki module. I'll check with Surgo to see if he's had word back from our host yet or not. - Tarkisflux Talk 06:44, 22 January 2012 (UTC)


 * Ah, that's good to hear, that there is something going on. Thanks! Daranios 13:58, 22 January 2012 (UTC)

Publication Images
So, what exactly are the rules for images for the Publication namespace? Can we just use them and claim fair use in this case, or what? I can get them uploaded if it is under fair use. --Havvy 01:24, 19 July 2011 (UTC)
 * To chime in here: I am not well-informed about legal stuff, but Wikipedia is using "low-resolution images" of covers extensively with fair use claims like Wikipedia:File:Dragonlance Adventures 1987 book cover.jpg. As Wikipedia does this and is also much more visible than we are, and has many more contributors who might be knowledgeable about legal stuff, I expect this use of covers is very likely ok. Daranios 19:34, 21 July 2011 (UTC)


 * Fair Use is what you want Havvy, and Daranios is right here that a low res version is basically sufficient to cover things. - Tarkisflux Talk 00:24, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

NPCs (for campaign settings)
When I tried to made my campaigns "NPCs" page, I noticed that you had previously deleted the page(which was wierd, because I hadn't made it yet) with a rather frustrated sounding comment about the fact that it existed in the first place. I then realized that the page the red link brought me too wasn't Nor Galad (4e Campaign Setting)/NPCs, and was merely "NPCs". So let me make a suggestion: simply add a "/" in front of the "NPC" section for both the 3.5 and 4e campaign setting "guidelines", if you want to avoid more of those pages. This is because right now, the NPC red link is the only red link in the setup that makes an entirely separate page (separate from the campaign) because It looks like this:
 * NPCs|NPCs, Minions, and Notables

Instead of corresponding to the other red links, where it should like this:
 * /NPCS|NPCs, Minions, and Notables

If you change this for the 3.5 and 4e campaign setting guidelines, people will stop accidently making "NPCs" pages, and instead their NPCs pages will always be linked to their campaign. I just figure if you make this small change you won't have to deal with it in the future. Hopefully you read this :D Liosrakia 18:31, 11 August 2011 (UTC)


 * Surgo isn't really active in day to day wiki stuff at this point, but his talk page is watched in case stuff like this comes up.


 * You're right, the preload should have had a / in there to make the link work properly. I've updated it in the preloads already. Thanks for pointing it out :-) - Tarkisflux Talk 19:27, 11 August 2011 (UTC)

Lich Paraon's Alternate Form
I was thinking of creating a generic Paragon Undead class, and I was wondering if I could have permission to use the Alternate Form ability found in your lich paragon class. It will not be a carbon copy, I will change it a bit (and have an improved version at a higher level) The Dire Reverend 22:39, 11 August 2011 (UTC)


 * I don't want to speak for Surgo here, but if I had to guess I think the initial inclination would be to go ahead and do it. That said, there are quite a few undead that that doesn't work for. Pretty much any undead that is more of a creature than a template. That's the only reason it works with liches, and it also doesn't help that not all of the templated undead are sentient. I think that's one of the reason's why it's so specific to liches and not something that any undead could have. On a similar note, making multiple different paragon classes for each undead would appeal more to me personally than making a wholly generic one for everything undead. It's just too much stuff all in one basket. - TG Cid 23:40, 11 August 2011 (UTC)

Extension Requests
I figure this is as good a place as any to leave some extension requests:


 * Extension:Collection. Havvy asked for this, but it looks like a good one to put in since the old book maker never worked right and was then removed.
 * Extension:SpecialInterwiki. This one is mostly for the Canon namespace, so admins can setup interwiki links themselves instead of asking you to edit stuff server side.

Let me know if you have objections to these. - Tarkisflux Talk 23:09, 20 September 2011 (UTC)


 * Collection was the old book maker. It was almost entirely a big colossal piece of crap. Maybe it's improved since then (it's been, what, a year?), but we'd have to seriously make sure it's good. I'll see what I can do about interwiki. Surgo 00:39, 21 September 2011 (UTC)


 * Did not know that. That's... disappointing. There's been a fair number of updates since we had it installed last, but they just look like localization updates or bug fixes, and we had larger issues with it. The version number hasn't changed at all, just gone from beta to stable. Not sure if it's worth trying to do again or not :-/ - Tarkisflux Talk 01:11, 21 September 2011 (UTC)


 * Bump. We were still planning on doing the interwiki one right? - Tarkisflux Talk 17:32, 20 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Just installed Interwiki. Surgo 21:13, 10 February 2012 (UTC)

Paranoia paranoia...
I've been noticing a lot of strange new accounts, people with one or two letter names that don't make sense like Xb and Sm, and names which stink of spambot. They haven't done anything but create accounts and for all I can tell they are being stopped by whatever captchas protect us at the moment. I can't help but feel paranoid about them though. Do you know anything about these oddities, what they are, what they're doing, and if they pose any danger? -- Eiji-kun 07:04, 11 October 2011 (UTC)


 * And on that note... BOOM!!! FATALITY!!!  Good hit Surgo, I think you just leveled up!  -- Eiji-kun 07:24, 5 May 2012 (UTC)


 * Funny you should mention that, since I just noticed that a discussion page in one of my sandboxes was attacked by a spambot. Kudos to Tarkisflux for cleaning it up. You really should be less modest and let us know you did a good job once in awhile :) FiddleSticks96 06:22, 21 June 2012 (UTC)

Random Page?
Could we please have the random page on the navigation bar again? It's a pain having to either type it out or go to my user page (Push me for fun!) The Dire Reverend 05:30, 21 June 2012 (UTC)


 * I didn't even realize it was gone. I'll see what I can do. Surgo 03:09, 22 June 2012 (UTC)


 * Beat you to it. :-p - Tarkisflux Talk 03:16, 22 June 2012 (UTC)