Jump to content

Wikipedia:Dispute resolution noticeboard

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Welcome to the dispute resolution noticeboard (DRN)

    This is an informal place to resolve small content disputes as part of dispute resolution. It may also be used as a tool to direct certain discussions to more appropriate forums, such as requests for comment, or other noticeboards. You can ask a question on the talk page. This is an early stop for most disputes on Wikipedia. You are not required to participate, however, the case filer must participate in all aspects of the dispute or the matter will be considered failed. Any editor may volunteer! Click this button to add your name! You don't need to volunteer to help. Please feel free to comment below on any case. Be civil and remember; Maintain Wikipedia policy: it is usually a misuse of a talk page to continue to argue any point that has not met policy requirements. Editors must take particular care adding information about living persons to any Wikipedia page. This may also apply to some groups.

    Noticeboards should not be a substitute for talk pages. Editors are expected to have had extensive discussion on a talk page (not just through edit summaries) to work out the issues before coming to DRN.
    Do you need assistance? Would you like to help?

    If we can't help you, a volunteer will point you in the right direction. Discussions should be civil, calm, concise, neutral, objective and as nice as possible.

    • This noticeboard is for content disputes only. Comment on the contributions, not the contributors. Off-topic or uncivil behavior may garner a warning, improper material may be struck-out, collapsed, or deleted, and a participant could be asked to step back from the discussion.
    • We cannot accept disputes that are already under discussion at other content or conduct dispute resolution forums or in decision-making processes such as Requests for comments, Articles for deletion, or Requested moves.
    • The dispute must have been recently discussed extensively on a talk page (not just through edit summaries) to be eligible for help at DRN. The discussion should have been on the article talk page. Discussion on a user talk page is useful but not sufficient, because the article talk page may be watched by other editors who may be able to comment. Discussion normally should have taken at least two days, with more than one post by each editor.
    • Ensure that you deliver a notice to each person you add to the case filing by leaving a notice on their user talk page. DRN has a notice template you can post to their user talk page by using the code shown here: {{subst:drn-notice}}. Be sure to sign and date each notice with four tildes (~~~~). Giving notice on the article talk page in dispute or relying on linking their names here will not suffice.
    • Do not add your own formatting in the conversation. Let the moderators (DRN Volunteers) handle the formatting of the discussion as they may not be ready for the next session.
    • Follow moderator instructions There will be times when the moderator may issue an instruction. It is expected of you to follow their instruction and you can always ask the volunteer on their talk page for clarification, if not already provided. Examples are about civility, don't bite the newcomers, etc.
    If you need help:

    If you need a helping hand just ask a volunteer, who will assist you.

    • This is not a court with judges or arbitrators that issue binding decisions: we focus on resolving disputes through consensus, compromise, and advice about policy.
    • For general questions relating to the dispute resolution process, please see our FAQ page.

    We are always looking for new volunteers and everyone is welcome. Click the volunteer button above to join us, and read over the volunteer guide to learn how to get started. Being a volunteer on this page is not formal in any respect, and it is not necessary to have any previous dispute resolution experience. However, having a calm and patient demeanor and a good knowledge of Wikipedia policies and guidelines is very important. It's not mandatory to list yourself as a volunteer to help here, anyone is welcome to provide input.

    Volunteers should remember:
    • Volunteers should gently and politely help the participant fix problems. Suggest alternative venues if needed. Try to be nice and engage the participants.
    • Volunteers do not have any special powers, privileges, or authority in DRN or in Wikipedia, except as noted here. Volunteers who have had past dealings with the article, subject matter, or with the editors involved in a dispute which would bias their response must not act as a volunteer on that dispute. If any editor objects to a volunteer's participation in a dispute, the volunteer must either withdraw or take the objection to the DRN talk page to let the community comment upon whether or not the volunteer should continue in that dispute.
    • Listed volunteers open a case by signing a comment in the new filing. When closing a dispute, please mark it as "closed" in the status template (see the volunteer guide for more information), remove the entire line about 'donotarchive' so that the bot will archive it after 48 hours with no other edits.
    Open/close quick reference
    • To open, replace {{DR case status}} with {{DR case status|open}}
    • To close, replace the "open" with "resolved", "failed", or "closed". Add {{DRN archive top|reason=(reason here) ~~~~}} beneath the case status template, and add {{DRN archive bottom}} at the bottom of the case. Remember to remove the DoNotArchive bit line (the entire line).
    Case Created Last volunteer edit Last modified
    Title Status User Time User Time User Time
    Dragon Age: The Veilguard New Sariel Xilo (t) 13 days, 16 hours Robert McClenon (t) 18 hours Sariel Xilo (t) 13 hours
    Ustad Ahmad_Lahori Closed Goshua55 (t) 7 days, 22 hours Robert McClenon (t) 3 days, 7 hours Robert McClenon (t) 3 days, 7 hours
    Elizabeth Mynatt Closed Jesspater (t) 6 days, 21 hours Robert McClenon (t) 2 days, 17 hours Robert McClenon (t) 2 days, 17 hours

    If you would like a regularly-updated copy of this status box on your user page or talk page, put {{DRN case status}} on your page. Click on that link for more options.
    Last updated by FireflyBot (talk) at 23:46, 18 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]


    Current disputes

    [edit]

    Dragon Age: The Veilguard

    [edit]
    – New discussion.

    Have you discussed this on a talk page?

    Yes, I have discussed this issue on a talk page already.

    Location of dispute

    Users involved

    Dispute overview

    1) Disagreement on if WP:SYNTH is occurring in the topline summary sentences. The arguments for including these sentences is that one sentence in the lead is an accurate summary of the article's reception section & follows MOS:INTRO/Wikipedia:Summary style & the second sentence is in a reception section paragraph & follows WP:VG/REC advice for opening sentences. The argument against is that SYNTH is occurring & these summary sentences should not be included. 2) Rewriting a sentence on review bombing to remove context on negative reviews after a November talk page discussion came to consensus. 3) Other more minor disagreements about exact prose.

    How have you tried to resolve this dispute before coming here?

    How do you think we can help resolve the dispute?

    An independent review of the prose to ensure it is following policy as it seems the discussion has stalled out & to help us reach a consensus on the main content disagreements. The back and forth has led to the article being under a full lock until the dispute is resolved.

    Summary of dispute by BMWF

    [edit]
    Please keep it brief - less than 2000 characters if possible, it helps us help you quicker.

    Summary of dispute by Wikibenboy94

    [edit]

    The edits and justifications on the article by BMWF, who appears to have an ardent approach to following certain rules and guidelines, I have found particularly questionable. In my opinion:

    1. The aforementioned summaries, in both the lead and body, of points in the reception section do not amount to WP:SYNTH, and reception summaries in leads for countless articles would be removed if it did.

    2. Including the Steam player base numbers is not relevant for the lead, at least not in place of the lack of official sales figures, and where the sales section largely consists of theorising how much Dragon Age: Veilguard has sold.

    3. Identifying each platform for the game that was given a Metacritic consensus of "generally favorable" is redundant when the consensuses are the same for all the platforms; they should only be identified if there are differing consensuses, or at most should be written as "for all platforms".

    4. The invoking of WP:SAID while changing the wording so that a critic of the game "said" instead of "thought" and "referred to" instead of "criticized" I don't find warranted for what was initially written (note there are other instances of the words "thought" and "criticized" still remaining in the section). Similarly, the initial wording of "offensive reviews" I feel is more neutral and less loaded than "abusive reviews".

    5. I am less invested in how the review bombing is outlined, though do think some mention should be made on how Steam requires proof that you have played the game first before reviewing it, unlike Metacritic (or vice versa). Wikibenboy94 (talk) 19:01, 6 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

    Dragon Age: The Veilguard discussion

    [edit]
    Please keep discussion to a minimum before being opened by a volunteer. Continue on article talk page if necessary.

    To expand a bit a on the listing, I believe that at this point both @Wikibenboy94 and I agree that there are no WP:SYNTH issues in the topline summary sentences removed by @BMWF in this edit and agree on restoring them which BMWF opposes. I also agree with Wikibenboy94 on points 2-4 that they outlined in their summary of the dispute.

    In terms of the review bomb sentence, I think the following compromise version should satisfy the request for clarity on Steam users (bold is the text added by BMWF) while restoring context (underlined) that was in the November consensus on this issue: Veilguard was also subject to review bombing on Metacritic, with users criticizing the game for being "woke". Some outlets noted that while the user reviews on Metacritic are largely negative, the user reviews of Veilguard on Steam, which requires users to play the game before leaving a review, have a "mostly positive" rating. In response, Metacritic emphasized their moderation system which would remove offensive reviews. Sariel Xilo (talk) 17:30, 12 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

    Zeroth statement by possible moderator (Dragon Age)

    [edit]

    I am ready to act as the moderator if at least two participants want moderated discussion. Please read DRN Rule A and state that you agree to the rules (if you want moderated discussion). The purpose of dispute resolution is to improve the article. So please state concisely what you want to change in the article that another editor wants to leave the same, or what you want to leave the same that another editor wants to change. Robert McClenon (talk) 20:43, 12 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

    Quick clarity question on DRN Rule A - my assumption is that the rule is to not edit war over the disputed content but updates/improvements in other sections are fine. This question occurred to me after the fact (I corrected a template in the awards table which is unrelated to the dispute but was a mistake I made). Sariel Xilo (talk) 02:04, 13 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

    Clarification by Moderator (Dragon Age)

    [edit]

    I generally prefer to have the parties avoid editing any part of the article, at least until all of the parties agree on what the area of dispute is. Since the other editors have not yet stated what they think the issues are, I am not relaxing the rule against editing the article, except with regard to the change that User:Sariel Xilo is asking about, that was already made. In that case, the principle of no harm, no foul applies to the change that has already been made. Leave the change in. Robert McClenon (talk) 05:06, 14 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

    Zeroth statements by editors (Dragon Age)

    [edit]

    I agree to DRN Rule A. As outlined above, I would like to restore the topline summary sentences in the lead & reception section (ie. the sentences removed in the lead in this edit & in the reception in this edit), restore other word changes as outlined by Wikibenboy94's in their points 2-4, & I would like use the above proposed compromise version of the review bomb prose. Sariel Xilo (talk) 21:04, 12 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

    First statement by possible moderator (Dragon Age)

    [edit]

    Do two editors want moderated discussion? The filing editor has said that they agree to DRN Rule A and has made a statement about what they want to change in the article. Another editor made a statement at the beginning, but has not agreed to DRN Rule A. If they agree to those rules, I will open moderated discussion, and we will try to work on the various differences. If they do not either agree to the rules or make some other statement, I will close this discussion as declined due to lack of response.

    Are there any other questions? Robert McClenon (talk) 18:20, 16 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

    I've pinged the two other editors in case they only watched this noticeboard for a week & haven't seen that a moderator opened the discussion. Sariel Xilo (talk) 18:34, 16 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
    I have read and agree to DRN Rule A. Wikibenboy94 (talk) 20:40, 17 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

    First statements by editors (Dragon Age)

    [edit]

    Second statement by possible moderator (Dragon Age)

    [edit]

    It appears that two editors have agreed to moderated discussion, but that they have mostly agreed with each other and disagreed with the third editor, who has not responded on this noticeboard. Their statements of what they want to change in the article are not entirely clear, at least not to me. So what I will do at this point is to ask each editor to prepare draft versions of the sections that they think should be changed. I don't see a discussion in the current text of the article about review bombing, so that we can read a description of the review bombing.

    I will comment that the article is no longer fully protected. The full protection expired, and the article is now semi-protected. However, I have asked that the editors in this dispute not edit the article while we are discussing its improvement.

    I don't understand what the synthesis issue is, and I don't want to read through the history and previous discussion to determine what the synthesis issue is. So please state more specifically what the synthesis issue is if you want it considered, or let me infer it from the rewritten sections, or I might ignore it, which might be what you want. It seems that the two editors who have responded do not see a synthesis issue, so it can be disregarded if it isn't mentioned and the third editor doesn't describe it.

    Please provide your rewritten sections.

    Are there any other questions? Robert McClenon (talk) 18:10, 18 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

    Second statements by editors (Dragon Age)

    [edit]

    Proposed text:

    Lead

    Dragon Age: The Veilguard released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on October 31, 2024. After release Dragon Age: The Veilguard topped Steam charts and broke BioWare's concurrent player record. The game received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its cast, representation of sexual minority characters, graphics, and level design, but were more critical of the story, aspects of the writing, and combat. It was nominated for Game of the Year at the Golden Joystick Awards and Innovation in Accessibility at The Game Awards.

    Reception

    ¶1 Dragon Age: The Veilguard received "generally favorable" reviews from critics for its Windows, Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 5 versions according to the review aggregator website Metacritic.[1] OpenCritic determined that 68% of critics recommended the game.[2] Veilguard was subject to review bombing on Metacritic, with users criticizing the game for being "woke". Some outlets noted that while the user reviews on Metacritic are largely negative, the user reviews of Veilguard on Steam, which requires users to play the game before leaving a review, have a "mostly positive" rating. In response, Metacritic emphasized their moderation system which would remove offensive reviews.[3][4][5]

    Reception ¶2 is not under dispute but here for additional context if needed.

    ¶2 Hayes Madsen of Rolling Stone called Veilguard a "fresh start for the franchise" with the game "practically a soft reset".[6] Leana Hafer for IGN similarly commented that the "story feels like both a send-off and a soft reboot, in a way, which was paradoxically a bit refreshing and disappointing at the same time". She also found it "cool" that the Inquisitor returns as "a fairly important character".[7] Andy Bickerton of NPR viewed the game as a "well-executed action RPG". However, he called the decision to not include prior player narrative choices a "letdown", noting that "it's easy to see how this squandered potential, along with the tonal inconsistencies, could have arisen out of Veilguard's near-decade of troubled production".[8] Lauren Morton of PC Gamer thought a downside of perceived streamlining and eliminating the "most common RPG frictions" is that it "can feel more action adventure than RPG at moments".[9]

    ¶3 Critics were mixed on the game's story. Matt Purslow from IGN thought that Veilguard was "at war with itself", as he felt that the game was not interested in exploring the franchise's past despite being its first direct sequel, and that the game sidelined major characters such as Solas and Varric.[10] Malindy Hetfeld of The Guardian criticized the "surprisingly mediocre" writing in Veilguard, describing the protagonist Rook as more of a witty observer than a "person with opinions".[11] She also found the "comically evil" new villainous gods disappointing compared to the more "compelling" Solas.[11] Hafer opined that Veilguard has "weird" pacing, and that the overaching plot "is nothing particularly outstanding in its overall structure", with the only interesting factor being Solas.[7] Madsen argued that Solas was "a secondary protagonist", with the game focusing on his choices, their impact, "and how your journey as Rook mirrors" his journey.[6] Ash Parrish of The Verge appreciated how Solas' arc subverted her desire to kill him despite longstanding animosity; she praised BioWare for crafting "his story arc in a way that didn't soften his actions as villain backstories typically do, but in a way that I felt compelled to make a different choice".[12] Reviewers were divided over how consequential player choices were to the narrative,[13][6][11][9][14] with some finding major decisions "few and far between".[11][6]

    The rest of the reception section for context on lead summary. While it uses similar summary style sentences as above (see bolded text), it is not under dispute.

    ¶4 Madsen praised Veilguard for its attention to detail when showcasing the player's iteration of Rook and the game's companions, calling the characters "wonderfully written and well integrated into the plot".[6] Todd Harper of Polygon emphasized the companions as the heart of the game, noting that they were "weird and idiosyncratic in the best ways".[15] Kazuma Hashimoto of Them commented that at a surface level companions feel like "fantasy clichés and tropes", but with earned trust reveal "mundane moments" that make them feel closer to "normal people"; he also praised both the romance and non-romance options for interacting with companions.[14] Hafer appreciated that companions are each "stars of their own story" with "complex, memorable, likable, distinct personalities", but was disappointed that in combat they felt more like extensions of the player character.[7] Parrish enjoyed the "fun banter" of companions, and praised the romance options in Veilguard, highlighting that unlike previous Dragon Age games, it explicitly indicates when the player becomes locked into a romance path.[12] Conversely, Oliver Brandt of Sports Illustrated viewed the choice to make all companions romanceable regardless of player gender expression as "a small step back" from other Dragon Age games.[16] Harvey Randall of PC Gamer highlighted a lack of nuance in Rook's romantic dialogue if a player chooses to discuss Rook's gender identity.[17] Morton thought companions lacked nuance and individual characterizations,[18] noting that "good people don't make great characters".[9] She further criticized the lack of a "functional mechanism for disapproval" and interpersonal group conflicts.[18]

    ¶5 Veilguard generally received praise for its inclusive character creator and representation of transgender and non-binary characters.[16][19][20][21][22][23] Alyssa Mora of IGN emphasized the character creator's "body diversity" where "the options feel almost endless".[19] Both Robin Bea of Inverse and Brandt commended Taash's story arc,[16][20] with Brandt noting while BioWare has previously "touched on queer stories", Vanguard "goes one step further, unashamedly and unabashedly calling one of its most compelling characters nonbinary".[16] Bea acknowledged the "smart writing" in Veilguard in addressing transgender representation. However, she critiqued the use of a coming out narrative as "low-hanging fruit", and thought Rook's gender identity was not fully explored beyond Taash's storyline and so did not "always feel like a fully-actualized trans character".[20] Stacey Henley of TheGamer appreciated the deliberate use of modern language in Taash's story in comparison to Inquisition's Krem, though noted the language has been contentious with audiences as potentially "immersion breaking".[21] Randall was more critical, noting how Veilguard "both failed and succeeded" in the narrative aspects focused on non-binary characters, and that the overall "scattershot, clumsy, and unpolished" writing impacts the "use of queer language in a fantasy context".[17] They found the lack of a fictional etymology connecting the word to the cultures of Thedas problematic, reflecting wider story issues as the game seems "barely interested in the politics of its own setting".[17]

    ¶6 Critics enjoyed Veilguard's graphics and level design but were divided on the game's combat. Bickerton felt that Veilguard's strongest feature was its action gameplay, writing "mastering combat and party composition is a thoroughly rewarding experience from start to finish".[8] He also highlighted the game's "accessibility and difficulty settings" as being welcoming for more casual players.[8] Hetfeld viewed Veilguard's combat as functional but repetitive, without "much room for strategy", and similar to numerous other games.[11] Hafer called the boss fights the highlight of combat.[7] Parrish praised the combo system, the new elemental effects on weapons, and the ability for player mages to switch between melee and ranged for a "kinetic, almost chaotic energy". However, she critiqued the length of encounters from the "wave after wave of tanky enemies with multiple health bars".[12] Harper thought the combat was "hit or miss", and that the combo system was less complex than Inquisition and the Mass Effect games.[15] Hafer stated that the game has "visual splendor",[7] and Harper called it "graphically gorgeous".[15] Parrish opined that the "companions and environments are arresting in their design".[13] Bickerton thought the level design was an improvement on Inquisition's "bland open zones", and praised side quests for their depth and the rewarding of exploration with "useful loot and impactful plot points".[8] Morton viewed each area's "incredible visual design" as a standout feature of Veilguard. She found it was better off for removing Inquisition's "giant zones" and having "more constrained maps of coiled corridors and clearings".[9]

    References

    1. ^ "Dragon Age: The Veilguard (Xbox Series X Critic Reviews)". Metacritic. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
    2. ^ "Dragon Age: The Veilguard Reviews". OpenCritic. Retrieved November 12, 2024.
    3. ^ "Metacritic responds after Dragon Age: The Veilguard review bombing". Eurogamer.net. 2024-11-05. Retrieved 2024-11-06.
    4. ^ "Dragon Age The Veilguard is getting review bombed, and now Metacritic has something to say". PCGamesN. 2024-11-05. Retrieved 2024-11-06.
    5. ^ Watson, Philip (2024-11-05). "Dragon Age: The Veilguard's Poor Review Bombing Leads To Metacritic Response". CGMagazine. Retrieved 2024-11-06.
    6. ^ a b c d e Madsen, Hayes (2024-10-28). "'Dragon Age: The Veilguard' Is a Return to Form for a Beloved RPG Franchise". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2024-10-29.
    7. ^ a b c d e Hafer, Leana (2024-10-28). "Dragon Age: The Veilguard Review". IGN. Retrieved 2024-10-29.
    8. ^ a b c d Bickerton, Andy (October 28, 2024). "Tonally inconsistent 'Dragon Age: The Veilguard' is still BioWare's best action game". NPR. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
    9. ^ a b c d Morton, Lauren (October 28, 2024). "Dragon Age: The Veilguard review". PC Gamer. Retrieved October 28, 2024.
    10. ^ Purslow, Matt (November 9, 2024). "Dragon Age: The Veilguard Is at War With Itself". IGN. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
    11. ^ a b c d e Hetfeld, Malindy (October 28, 2024). "Dragon Age: The Veilguard review — a good RPG, but an underwhelming Dragon Age game". The Guardian. Retrieved October 28, 2024.
    12. ^ a b c Parrish, Ash (2024-11-28). "The hardest part of Dragon Age: The Veilguard is making a choice". The Verge. Retrieved 2024-11-29.
    13. ^ a b Parrish, Ash (2024-10-28). "Dragon Age: The Veilguard starts slow but strong". The Verge. Retrieved 2024-10-30.
    14. ^ a b Hashimoto, Kazuma (2024-10-28). "I Played 'Dragon Age: The Veilguard' and Got Myself Stuck in a Gay Love Triangle". Them. Retrieved 2024-11-29.
    15. ^ a b c Harper, Todd (2024-10-28). "Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the friend group simulator we've been waiting for". Polygon. Retrieved 2024-10-30.
    16. ^ a b c d Brandt, Oliver (2024-10-31). "Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the first triple-A game to handle gender identity the right way". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2024-11-29.
    17. ^ a b c Randall, Harvey (2024-11-13). "Dragon Age: The Veilguard's leap forward in trans inclusion comes from a heartfelt place, but its problems left me feeling frustrated, angry, and tired". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2024-11-29.
    18. ^ a b Morton, Lauren (2024-11-15). "The Veilguard is the first Dragon Age game where my companions don't care enough about anything to argue with me". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2024-11-29.
    19. ^ a b Mora, Alyssa (September 19, 2024). "Dragon Age: The Veilguard Preview: BioWare Finally Nails The Character Creator I've Always Wanted". IGN. Retrieved November 30, 2024.
    20. ^ a b c Bea, Robin (2024-11-06). "'Dragon Age: The Veilguard' Makes Me Feel Seen As a Trans Player, But Still Disappointed". Inverse. Retrieved 2024-11-29.
    21. ^ a b Henley, Stacey (2024-11-06). "Why Dragon Age: The Veilguard Uses The Term 'Non-Binary'". TheGamer. Retrieved 2024-11-29.
    22. ^ Puc, Samantha (2024-11-03). "This 'Dragon Age: The Veilguard' companion's story ruined me in the best way". The Mary Sue. Retrieved 2024-11-29.
    23. ^ Marshall, Cass (2024-11-01). "How role-playing a trans or nonbinary Rook works in Dragon Age: The Veilguard". Polygon. Retrieved 2024-11-30.

    In the lead and reception ¶1/¶3, I bolded prose which I think should be included & did strikethroughs on what I think should be removed. The lead & reception ¶3 summary sentences were removed for being synth although I disagree with that assessment. It would be helpful to have an outside opinion review them. Additionally, reception ¶1 (in bold & underline) includes the review bomb sentence that was part of the original November consensus that BMWF argued against; when raising synth concerns, they removed it again. I believe it adds important context as news outlets contrasted the two platforms in articles focused on what was occurring at Metacritic (ie. the negative user reviews on Metacritic were very different from the user reviews on Steam). Sariel Xilo (talk) 22:49, 18 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

    Ustad Ahmad_Lahori

    [edit]
    – General close. See comments for reasoning.
    Closed discussion

    Elizabeth Mynatt

    [edit]
    – General close. See comments for reasoning.
    Closed discussion