Acaeum Wiki

Posts: 50 · Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 5:03 am

Hello Everyone:

The Acaeum Wiki is tentatively up at http://wiki.acaeum.com.

Thanks to FoulFoot for hosting it and to HermitFromPluto and lucyjoyce for seeding it with content. We have 368 articles and 691 images.

If there are problems, or if you have questions or suggestions, please respond in this thread or PM me.

A note on edit policy: we would like to allow all regular members of the Acaeum to make contributions if they want to, as long as they make them under the same name as they use in the forums. To ensure that, please register on the wiki with your forum name and then PM HermitFromPluto to be made an editor.

Posts: 2269 · Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 10:04 am

Nice work guys. The Wiki looks better than I thought it would - its clear you guys have put some work into it.

There are a couple things that do concern me though. I think the foremost is the hearsay. For example, this page:

http://wiki.acaeum.com/wiki/Arduin_Grimoire

Quote:

"Hargrave's bitterness is perhaps evident in the description of the spell Stafford's Star Bridge."

If you are going to write claims of "Hargrave's bitterness", you should be referencing something that Hargrave has said. Referencing the party to which Hargrave was in dispute with is not exactly unbias.

Another example is here:

http://wiki.acaeum.com/wiki/Warriors_of_Mars

Quote:

When asked about the size of the print run over thirty years later, Gary Gygax thought that it was either 3000 or 5000 copies.[2]

Your reference to this statement is to Grodog's post that says on Enworld, Gygax said ... Again, if you are going to reference this statement, you should probably grab the origin from Gygax and not the third party who was passing it along.

Posts: 50 · Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 12:23 pm

I rewrote the Arduin Grimoire intro to attribute Stafford. For the Warriors of Mars print run, if someone could find the enworld post and link it, that would be great. I would still leave the acaeum forum link, though. Enworld renumbered their posts, and could do so again.

Posts: 973 · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 2:32 am

Just a short note. I am based in Melbourne, Australia, so anyone PM'ing for editor status, it may take up to 12 hours for this to come through.

For anyone wishing to get started at the Wiki, I am happy to give tips and advice over and above what we have on the Help Page http://wiki.acaeum.com/wiki/Help:Contents

I have just written some comments on the Wiki in The Acaeum Website Discussion Thread

Posts: 4449 · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 4:14 am

grubbiv wrote:

Hello Everyone:

The Acaeum Wiki is tentatively up at http://wiki.acaeum.com.

Thanks to FoulFoot for hosting it and to HermitFromPluto and lucyjoyce for seeding it with content. We have 368 articles and 691 images.

If there are problems, or if you have questions or suggestions, please respond in this thread or PM me.

A note on edit policy: we would like to allow all regular members of the Acaeum to make contributions if they want to, as long as they make them under the same name as they use in the forums. To ensure that, please register on the wiki with your forum name and then PM HermitFromPluto to be made an editor.

Hey guys;

I have scans of pretty much everything I've ever sold on Ebay the past few years....hundreds and hundreds, and many of them rare/hard to find items. I would like to make many of these available to this endeavor. Unfortunately I am not computer literate enough to figure out how to re-size the images small enough to make them "fit" the Wiki. Any advice would be helpful, plus then you can use the scans.

Mike B.

Posts: 973 · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 6:14 am

Hi Mike,

Yes. Being able to manage / resize images quickly and easily is a key factor in being able to jump in on the Wiki.

Our scanners usually give us high resolution images that are very large. A program I can recommend is IrfanView. It is free and can be downloaded from their site:

www.irfanview.com

1. In IrfanView, open an image you've scanned

2. On the top bar go to 'Image' - then click on 'resize/resample' in the drop down menu.

3. In 'set new size' type in 600 in the 'width' box and then hit OK (if the height is over 800, type 800 in the 'height' box instead). This will reduce the size and keep the correct proportions.

4. click on 'save as' . In the drop down list 'save as type' - make sure you select jpg image.

You will then have a neat jpg version of your original scan, somewhere between 60 and 150KB.

Posts: 2269 · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:19 am

You may also want to try:

http://www.rw-designer.com/picture-resize

I haven't used it yet but have been meaning to give it a try. It is basically designed to do a large number of files at once.

1) put all your images in one folder (directory)

2) drag and drop them on the picture resizer icon

3) then select the new picture size

And it should resize all of the images at once.

Posts: 4449 · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 11:56 am

Mars wrote:

You may also want to try:

http://www.rw-designer.com/picture-resize

I haven't used it yet but have been meaning to give it a try. It is basically designed to do a large number of files at once.

1) put all your images in one folder (directory)

2) drag and drop them on the picture resizer icon

3) then select the new picture size

And it should resize all of the images at once.

This program works like a dream, especially to a computer caveman like myself. Just drag and drop. I was shocked to see how gigantic most of my scan files were (several thousand at huge size!) and how much space they are taking up. This should free up some memory, and make importing them to the wiki much easier.

Mike B.

Posts: 1277 · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:10 pm

I like that it can be added to the context menu so you can highlight several images, right click and select Resize Image. It'll open a lot of command prompt windows (let them run through) but it seems to work pretty well. Might have to play around with it to get it to default to a different size, though.

Wiki looks decent. Might have to consider adding to some of those sections myself, if I ever get the time.

Posts: 781 · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 1:14 pm

Badmike wrote:

Unfortunately I am not computer literate enough to figure out how to re-size the images small enough to make them "fit" the Wiki. Any advice would be helpful, plus then you can use the scans.

wiki autoscales encapsulated pics on display but reduce + batch to send quick is good if that many Smile

+thx!!
on wiki side for new product need to be careful not too big anyhow as fair use issues if become high profile

Posts: 4449 · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 1:37 pm

Rakeesh sah Tarna wrote:

wiki autoscales encapsulated pics on display but reduce + batch to send quick is good if that many Smile

+thx!!
on wiki side for new product need to be careful not too big anyhow as fair use issues if become high profile

So far so good; if anyone/everyone could check my first entry for "DCC 20.5 The Mask of Death" for any suggestions/additions/etc. I figure unusual items like this deserve a little write up, but I'm not sure enough of my skills yet to do so (including all the links, etc). I also figure best to get up as much as possible first, then edit/add details later.

Mike B.

Posts: 2893 · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 5:04 pm

Mars wrote:

Your reference to this statement is to Grodog's post that says on Enworld, Gygax said ... Again, if you are going to reference this statement, you should probably grab the origin from Gygax and not the third party who was passing it along.

Looks like the archived posts are now @ http://www.enworld.org/forum/archive/index.php/57832-gary-gygax-q-part -iv.html but I can't seem to get into that thread, so I'll ask some of the admins about it.

Posts: 781 · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 5:06 pm

your page looks fine mike Smile

is not so important individual writeup to start as organization

@general: because is category driven does not work as most wikis like http://wiki.acaeum.com/wiki/Different_Worlds_1 say click Different Worlds + get category not magazine summary. dw not on wiki' but compare http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owl_and_Weasel . same for author + game if using category driven would be good to have overview page for each placed in category
infobox still ugly imo + eats screen estate especially if widescreen but functionality for category driven ok if tweaked using overview + plan out structure before too large. like with http://wiki.acaeum.com/wiki/Category:Advanced_Dungeons_and_Dragons_2nd _Edition what are modules what are rulesets?? try telling with 400 items if have no Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition (module) cat or such

much more than expected for start Wink

scan needed = good cat btw
question still what is purpose??

Posts: 4449 · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 5:44 pm

Rakeesh sah Tarna wrote:

your page looks fine mike Smile

is not so important individual writeup to start as organization

@general: because is category driven does not work as most wikis like http://wiki.acaeum.com/wiki/Different_Worlds_1 say click Different Worlds + get category not magazine summary. dw not on wiki' but compare http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owl_and_Weasel . same for author + game if using category driven would be good to have overview page for each placed in category
infobox still ugly imo + eats screen estate especially if widescreen but functionality for category driven ok if tweaked using overview + plan out structure before too large. like with http://wiki.acaeum.com/wiki/Category:Advanced_Dungeons_and_Dragons_2nd _Edition what are modules what are rulesets?? try telling with 400 items if have no Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition (module) cat or such

much more than expected for start Wink

scan needed = good cat btw
question still what is purpose??

If I get what you are saying Rakeesh each category (mag title, author, games, etc) would benefit from an overview page...I'd heartily agree. Otherwise this really just turns into an extension of what the Tome of Treasures is doing anyway. For example the DCC section can become a really useful repository of all the tidbits we have been gathering on the line the last few years; is/has anyone attempted to present a comprehensive DCC catalog before now?

BTW I have every dungeon issue, and scans of each, if I get time (yeh right) I will try to insert an adventure list for each one. Also would be cool to have the contents list of each Dragon and Polyhedron easily at hand, up to the start of 3rd edition

Mike B.

Posts: 781 · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 6:03 pm

Badmike wrote:

For example the DCC section can become a really useful repository of all the tidbits we have been gathering on the line the last few years; is/has anyone attempted to present a comprehensive DCC catalog before now?

dont think so + would like to see
agree is collating + networking information not static catalog. plenty scope to use discussion pages as well as front side only. extra essays easy to link within wiki to subpage of own home if require that. etc

Badmike wrote:

Also would be cool to have the contents list of each Dragon and Polyhedron easily at hand, up to the start of 3rd edition

and beyond?? Laughing

agree that is difficult not to start swallowing remainder acaeum remit as no xrefs for rest of acaeum catalog

Posts: 1277 · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 6:43 pm

Perhaps someone should say what the Wiki is supposed to cover -- year to year? D&D-only? D&D-related? TSR? One thing about Acaeum is its "goal" is quite defined.

Posts: 4449 · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 7:43 pm

serleran wrote:

Perhaps someone should say what the Wiki is supposed to cover -- year to year? D&D-only? D&D-related? TSR? One thing about Acaeum is its "goal" is quite defined.

Can we really start limiting it, even now? I guess a blanket "collectible RPG items not 1E AD&D" might cover it. Whatever the limitations, it will be great to finally see repositories of knowledge covering, say, The Companions, Midkemia, DCC, Arduin, etc. I wasn't a big cheerleader for the entire project when announced, but I'm on board as I can finally see a good reason I saved these thousands of scans of RPG items on my harddrive all these years......! Shocked

Perhaps a spot on the Wiki, or here, can be devoted to someone wishing to flesh out/cover a particular area of collectible RPGs? That way we wouldn't have to worry about a lot of duplication of effort. I'm quite willing to jump in wherever some info is needed, or simply clean up existing descriptions if necessary. As I said I'd like to finally see complete contents pages for all the TSR periodicals up to 1999 or so; saves me the trouble of digging through the Dragon archive...or in the case of Dungeon and Poly, where no database readily exists, finally having a good spot to go when you have a question.

Mike B.

Posts: 973 · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:05 pm

Morning everyone (which I think is late afternoon for those in the US),

1. Thanks Mars. That photo re-sizer is a nice find.

2. Mike, your entry for 'DCC 20.5 The Mask of Death' is spot on. You will notice that perhaps only a fifth of our items have descriptions so far, but if we get product lines and sets listed these can always be added later. But it is perfectly OK to just put the basic information on the item first. I am all for making a full 'Dungeon' mag list with contents. This should be pretty straighforward.

3. Rakeesh. Thanks for your comments.
- yes it is good point to start writing some general overview on the category pages. This will come in time - so far there have only been three of us (Mike makes four!) working on it.
- not sure what you mean by infobox still ugly - grubbiv is the mastermind behind the software and formatting. It is still evolving actually, but I think it looks great now compared to when we started! But if you have some suggestions how to make it look better, they are most welcome.
- your point on planning out categorisations is an important one and I would appreciate everyone's views on this. We can still add categories. We will introduce 'genre' at some point and this means you can search by 'Fantasy', 'Science Fiction', 'Horror' etc. We have a format line that indicates whether the item is a 'box set' or 'book' and so on. I'll have a look into what we could do to standardise this, so that items can perhaps be better organised on the summary pages.

4. Concerning the goal, our scope is written on the help page HERE:

The Acaeum wiki is a guide to role-playing games. The wiki is supplementary to the rest of the Acaeum, so we don't cover 1st Edition Dungeons & Dragons, Judges Guild, or Planescape.

So Mike is again spot on. Why limit it? While the Acaeum focusses on Dungeons and Dragons, the bulk of us play and collect more widely than that. So the Wiki is for all RPGs not covered at the Acaeum. Essentially the end goal should be to have a searchable database akin to Heroic Worlds, but much more comprehensive and updated. It is obviously a long term project.

Posts: 781 · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 9:21 pm

more than searchable database but still if no searching or linking at all to most popular items is deliberately crippled. shell entries for items already on acaeum with linking + cats encapsulating existing acaeum content would not hurt acaeum to start but still two tier system. anyone looking to use might expect more than http://wiki.acaeum.com/wiki/Category:Gary_Gygax Wink

for looking better infoboxes on wiki' was first suggestion enough for comparison. 1/2 screen text window + no textwrap for current boxes
is still good work thank you Smile

Posts: 2893 · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:07 pm

grodog wrote:

Looks like the archived posts are now @ http://www.enworld.org/forum/archive/index.php/57832-gary-gygax-q-part -iv.html but I can't seem to get into that thread, so I'll ask some of the admins about it.

The EGG Q&A threads are definitely broken (as is the rest of the ENW archive), and it's being tracked @ http://www.enworld.org/forum/meta/240983-i-cant-access-archive-forum-m erged.html