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My time on the wiki is quickly running out, so I will make a last ditch effort to get everyone to figure this out so we can add ideas/projects/tasks/etc. for The Keyhole that can be started, if not finished, this year. A lot of good ideas have been thrown around since the topic was publicly opened in January, both here and at The Keyhole, and now, five months later, I'm gonna try to make something out of it with fairly fresh eyes. First, I think some ground rules, or a framework, of what we want, which I've gathered from looking over all the responses. By framework, I mean that these four ideas should be considered in all potential plans we present for shaping the purpose of The Keyhole.
- We are NOT abandoning either site: The easiest choice, by far, but the least likely. Like I said previously, for emotional or logical reasons, neither site's users are about to leave their site. Closing The Kingdom Hearts Wiki and moving back to Wikia flies in the face of what's been done over the last four years, and the reason why we split in the first place (independence from Wikia). Closing The Keyhole is outright impossible because of Wikia's terms, and the community isn't going to give up their liberty to do what they currently do to leave The Keyhole, either.
- Both sites will ultimately become encyclopedias: Part of what's been expressed throughout this discussion is that we don't want both sites to be the same because we don't want the two to compete for traffic. However, from seeing the discussion at The Keyhole, no one there wants to give up the content they have; in fact, they want the liberty to cover more content, be more encyclopedic, and in effect cover about the same ground The Kingdom Hearts Wiki does. In the end, I think we'll have to give in to this desire.
- The sites can't be duplicates of each other: Despite both ultimately being encyclopedias for the Kingdom Hearts series, they can't be duplicates of each other, and that's been expressed on both sides of the discussion. Having duplicates with the same purpose and coverage creates conflict: we'll start competing for traffic and users, there won't be a unifying of the community, and we'll return to the time of the old forums when the sites would trash each other. It's also redundant: a regular user/gamer will be confused as to which wiki he/she should use.
- In the end, we should have a purpose: This is my own addition to the framework. A lot of different ideas have been thrown around. Cross-editing, re-merging, having The Keyhole cover voice-actors, more links to The Keyhole. Some are good ideas, but there've been few that actually answer the question "What's the purpose of The Keyhole?" Why should I want to edit there? What kind of content can I find there that I can't find anywhere else, or what should I expect from The Keyhole? Some have mentioned keeping it as a fan-site, which is fine, but what exactly is a fan-site? Technically, we're all fan-sites. The Kingdom Hearts Wiki is a fan-site, an internet encyclopedia of the Kingdom Hearts series built up by fans. Kingdom Hearts Insider is a fan-site, an internet news site of the Kingdom Hearts series run by fan journalists. Wiki Kingdom Hearts is a fan-site, an internet encyclopedia of the Kingdom Hearts series in Spanish built by those that have played the game in Spanish. Heck, DisneyWiki is a fan-site, an internet encyclopedia of Disney-related elements and works, among which includes the Kingdom Hearts series, built entirely by fans. Even, IGN is a fan-site, an internet website of video game reviews and news, that likes to dish on Kingdom Hearts, by fans (which include rather pathetic excuses for Kingdom Hearts fans). "Fan-site" is not a purpose, it's a description of every Kingdom Hearts website not hosted at http://www.kingdomhearts.com or http://www.kingdomhearts.jp. We need a purpose for The Keyhole, something that we can talk about to other gamers on the internet and around us. A mission statement, or a new tagline. Something that says "The Keyhole does this. We specialize in this. You interested? Join us in this. Add to it. Help this grow." Anything short of a purpose only leaves The Keyhole in the same place as it is now, and we'll be back here in four years' time. After all, that's why we're here now, because four years ago, "fan-site" was thought up as a good purpose/tag-line, when it isn't.
I'd like to now present an idea of my own that I've been conjuring over the last few weeks. The following concept I've crafted is in many ways, a culmination of several other people's ideas. It's inspired on one website: http://simple.wikipedia.org. For those who, like me, have never seen Simple English Wikipedia, it's an official "language" of Wikipedia, and basically is a simplified version of the English Wikipedia for those who are learning English or have difficulty understanding English. However, the concept of a simplified Wikipedia is what sparked my interest, and so, here's my idea: The Keyhole should be a simplified encyclopedia of the Kingdom Hearts Wiki. The Kingdom Hearts Wiki would be the Ultimania and The Keyhole would be something like the BradyGames guides. Before you tune out, let me explain that that's the essence of it, here are the specifics. This concept has three basic parts.
- Content Restriction: The restrictions currently imposed on The Keyhole requiring content to be put in lists would be removed. The Keyhole would be free to cover as much, in regards to what subjects, as they want. Instead, to keep the two sites separate, The Keyhole would not cover technical aspects of the game in its mainspace. It would be simplified in regards to gameplay (I realized today that FM had suggested this back in January). So, The Kingdom Hearts Wiki, like the Ultimania, would cover the levels, HP, resistance, and other general mechanics, while The Keyhole covers the same subject without the technical details, while still fully covering the subject. The restrictions in this regard on The Keyhole wouldn't be what deserves a page; so long as they want it to have a page, it can have a page, even on subjects that aren't covered in individual pages on this wiki. Instead, the restriction would be on how technical they can be. Many of the articles already express this well, and this new change in restrictions would actually allow for more pages on more content (for anyone who thought this would require shortening existing pages, I don't think that'll need to happen).
- Re-merge: Additionally, I think we should carry out a merge to update the content on The Keyhole. By this, I mean The Keyhole should organize an effort to update their articles by basing off of what's on The Kingdom Hearts Wiki, but not copy the actual wording (to avoid the competition issue). A lot of the content on The Keyhole is outdated, especially in regards to the HD ReMIXes, so a merge of sorts (not on the massive scale that the first one seemed to have been carried out) is really necessary.
- Community: In addition (merging in my social/community idea from before), there would be an emphasis on community and social aspects. So, emphasize community discussion of the subjects and everything. The blogs from before. And, most importantly, walkthroughs. In my concept, The Keyhole should also emphasize on entirely user-created Walkthroughs, like the ones currently on the site. The Kingdom Hearts Wiki has only one walkthrough per game built by user collaboration, and it should stay that way. On The Keyhole, however, the walkthroughs would not be a site-led effort in that they wouldn't have to be just one walkthrough, but each user would be able to create their own version, or collaborate with another user to make one, and they'd get a greater emphasis by the wiki. Strategies, too, and other stuff that basically help a player get through the game. In short, The Keyhole would be the real gamer's encyclopedia. No actual gamer really needs the in-game calculations and statistics that are hosted on the Kingdom Hearts Wiki during their actual playing. In many ways, what's hosted here in that regard is a little over the top. But on The Keyhole, they'd be able to provide regular human-usable strategies and guides, made by different people, to help other people. And The Keyhole would still be loose in policies to allow for the various things that have been added, like LegendAqua's Anime Reviews. Other things that have been suggested, like closing certain forums here and moving the Mirage Arena, are still up for debate if wanted (though The Underdrome didn't close, so I don't know if moving the Mirage Arena is a good idea).
To conclude, it is imperative that we have a purpose for The Keyhole if Operation: Keychain is to have any effect over there. Without one, we can't make plans on what we want to work to gain at The Keyhole, nor can we tell people on the Internet about what they can do over there. It's impossible right now to advertise The Keyhole because all we have is a bunch of don'ts as a purpose. We need a purpose, whether it's my concept, or a variation of it, or someone else's ideas, but we need one, and we're gonna need it pretty soon. Even so, we need a discussion. We need to know what exactly The Keyhole wants to be , whether it's my idea or anyone else's idea, or an idea of their own. Any of the small specifics can be merged into any plan of action, too, like cross-editing to help during the re-merge or whatever. Additionally, I hope I've made it clear here that what my concept aims to do isn't further restrict The Keyhole or reduce it to a social site like many of you seemed to have felt. I'm trying here to expand it where I see it can without pitting it against The Kingdom Hearts Wiki, for reasons I've already expressed. In fact, I am of the personal belief that some, if not all, the restrictions that cause The Keyhole to cover content in lists should be altered or loosened, if not outright removed. This way, it's still an encyclopedia like the people at The Keyhole want it to be, and still different enough that it doesn't directly compete with The Kingdom Hearts Wiki. In the end, this concept gives The Keyhole a new purpose, a defined purpose: "The Gamer's Kingdom Hearts Encyclopedia".
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