Wikibooks:Strategy guides - Wikibooks, open books for an open world
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From Wikibooks, open books for an open world
This page documents an official
Wikibooks policy
that the Wikibooks community has accepted and Wikibookians
must follow
. Except for minor edits, please make use of the
discussion page
to propose changes to this policy.
Shortcut
WB:GUIDE
This is the policy for the inclusion of
strategy guides
and walkthroughs relating to video games. These should be placed on
Shelf:Electronic games
. See
Wikibooks:Reading room/Proposals#Draft policy created
for the ongoing discussion.
Historical background
Video game strategy guides and walk-throughs were banned from Wikibooks in 2007, although scholarly analysis of video games, or guides on the design of video games, have always been allowed. Following from this decision, most guides were migrated to
StrategyWiki
, an existing wiki with a compatible license.
Following the strong consensus at a community discussion in early 2021, this was reversed, as it was felt that it was no longer logical to exclude books on video games that described strategy. But there was also strong consensus that a policy would be needed to implement this change.
Overview of policy
The main consideration is that Wikibooks has a number of
policies and guidelines
relating to content, and nothing in this policy supersedes these. Instead it provides additional guidance for strategy guides, which should conform with the
purpose of Wikibooks
as an educational resource that allows textbooks, annotated texts, instructional guides, and manuals.
Copyright considerations
With this screenshot from the game
Celeste
, the developer confirmed a compatible license with a
VRT
ticket, allowing it to be hosted at Commons
A freely-licensed image created to illustrate gameplay of the game
Portal
Wikibooks has strict rules regarding copyrights: see
Wikibooks:Copyrights
for the full policy. In particular:
If you contribute text directly to Wikibooks, you irrevocably agree to license it for reuse under the
CC BY-SA 4.0
and
GFDL
licenses.
Avoid
plagiarism
in your guide; you should never represent the work of another author as one's own.
If in any doubt over copyright, please ask somewhere like the
assistance reading room
The
importing
of text from external sources may be feasible under certain circumstances, which can be
requested
. But please note:
Compatible licenses of copyrighted sources for importing include
CC BY-SA
(versions 1.0, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, and 4.0), and CC BY (all versions and ports, up to and including 4.0). Additionally, public domain and CC0 sources can be imported.
Be sure that any license requirements are complied with. For example, attribution of sources is often required by licenses.
Many sources will be copyrighted with licenses incompatible to that of Wikibooks. While providing citations to these are permitted, the copying of content is normally prohibited, unless under the doctrine of
fair use
. Fair use should only be applied as
described by policy
If importing from a source with a compatible license, make sure that the source itself does not have a different interpretation of copyright. For instance, StrategyWiki allows the use of video game handbook content verbatim in articles; but this is not allowed on Wikibooks (except in small portions), unless the video game handbook itself was released under a compatible license, which is usually not the case.
Screenshots and other media usage
The usage of media, such as images, videos and sounds, is strictly limited by policy: see
Wikibooks:Media
for the full policy.
Media in Wikibooks usually fall into two broad categories:
Media in the public domain, or under a
Commons-compatible free license
. New media in this category should be uploaded to
Wikimedia Commons
; you can also search Commons for suitable media that are already there. Media at Commons may still be copyrighted, but their free licenses allow for their liberal reuse in books.
Non-free media, which must be uploaded to Wikibooks, and only used under the strict terms of the
non-free media usage policy
Non-free media are copyrighted, and the policy for their reuse relates to the doctrine of fair use in US law. Trusted users needing to upload non-free media can apply for local
uploader
rights, and other users can ask for non-free media to be uploaded at
requests for import
Screenshots
taken from copyrighted games are usually copyrighted non-free media; exceptions to this are rare, but the EULA (end-user license agreement) can be consulted to check this. Non-free media rules would normally apply to screenshots of popular games and series like
Minecraft
Grand Theft Auto
, and
Pokémon
Screenshots of open-source games may be in the public domain, or compatible with an appropriate free license; but carefully examine the EULA of open-source games as there can be exceptions. If a developer consents to donating
screenshots
, you may consider going through the
Volunteer Response Team
with them to make otherwise non-free media available under a free license.
Copyright issues relating to media can be complex, but a good place to ask would be
Commons:Village pump/Copyright
; but first read
Commons:FAQ
Commons:Licensing
, and
Commons:Copyright rules by subject matter
. To get around the restrictions on non-free media, graphical images and other media can be created to demonstrate gameplay, that are not screenshots nor restrictively copyrighted; examples of these can be found at
Category:Video game gameplay at Commons
Other considerations
Only include significant games
Please do not include strategy guides for video games that are likely not significant to the wider gaming community. Wikibooks is
not a place to merely advertise
your or your friend's game. A useful
rule of thumb
is to look at review aggregator websites such as
Metacritic
or
OpenCritic
; if a video game listed there has garnered reviews, there is every indication that the game is widely significant. Inclusion of games in other prominent review sites may also indicate significance. Games that pass the
notability requirements of Wikipedia
should also be acceptable.
If there is doubt whether a game is significant, this should be discussed at venues such as the
projects reading room
Employ an academic tone
In general, an academic tone should be employed in strategy guides. Overall, the style should be that of the
academic writing
that you might find in a textbook, research paper, or encyclopedia. In particular,
advertising or self-promotion
, or other types of endorsements, should be avoided; and a
neutral point of view
, which is a fair and neutral description of the facts, should always be presented.
It can be helpful to give a wider context to video game strategy, such as a historical or technical discussion of the game.
Avoid primary research
Wikibooks does not allow
primary research
, such as proposing new theories and solutions, and presenting original ideas. However, you can use video games as a
primary source
; and it is reasonable to describe elements of strategy that are likely to be encountered during a typical play-through of a game. But opinions about the relative benefits of strategies should be avoided, unless they are obvious, or else provided by citing reliable
secondary
or
tertiary
sources. It is preferable to provide
references
for citations of any secondary or tertiary sources.
Citing secondary or tertiary sources may also help in maintaining a
neutral point of view
; any controversial statements should be shown within the context of other opinions, and reliable sources should help in providing these.
See also
Wikibooks:What is Wikibooks?
Wikibooks:Copyrights
Wikibooks:Media
Wikibooks:Neutral point of view
Wikibooks policies and guidelines
Project-wide principles
Administrators
Artificial intelligence
Copyrights
Decision making
Global rights
Protection
What is Wikibooks?
What is Wikijunior?
Book standards
Annotated texts
Naming
Neutral point of view
Behavioral policies
Be civil
Blocking
No personal attacks
Using bots
Behavioral guidelines
Assume good faith
Etiquette
Please do not bite the newcomers
Sockpuppets
Content guidelines
Deletion
Media
Ownership
Profanity
Strategy guides
User pages
Editing guidelines
Be bold
Contributing
Manual of Style
Pending approval. Discuss on
Wikibooks:Reading room/Proposals
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