MarioWiki:Proposals

New features
None at the moment.

Removals
None at the moment.

Apply usual naming rules to Mario Kart course names
According to Naming, this is how we handle the naming of Mario Kart courses that share a name with other subjects:


 * For Mario Kart courses, console abbreviations are used as the identifier whenever possible to match the retro course naming convention (e.g. Daisy Cruiser (GCN)).
 * Due to the Mario Kart 8/Deluxe multi-console situation, the identifier "MK8" is used until confirmation of anything else (e.g. Rainbow Road (MK8)).

The guideline enforces a compromise between our general naming rules and Nintendo's own in-game convention of affixing a console abbreviation to classic courses. In the case of Mario Kart 8 courses, it specifically requests using a game abbreviation as an identifier, whereas another rule states we should generally use the expanded form of the game's title. Neither part of this guideline appears to be justified, they contradict other rules, and read like a remnant of the wiki's bumbling pre-2010 days.

This proposal aims to make our naming rules consistent across the board, applying a "race course" or expanded game-of-origin identifier to Mario Kart course articles instead of the aforementioned. Doing this would prevent confusing situations such as the article for the Donut Plains 1 racetrack from Super Mario Kart being notated “SNES” despite the other Donut Plains 1 subject also originating from an SNES game.

Proposer: Deadline: May 28, 2021, 23:59 GMT

Support

 * 1) per proposal.
 * 2) It wouldn't hurt to at least try. Also, using the normal identifiers for the GameCube and DS battle courses feels like it's too rigid of an exception.

Oppose

 * 1) I don't really see anything wrong with the way we do it right now, I think having an exception in the policy to name things like how Nintendo does is fine and I would prefer it to using generic identifiers. Also, I don't think it matters if this contradicts other rules, since the page itself addresses this by making it very clear that this is an exception aiming to match the way Nintendo does it. The way I see it, this is the least confusing because it uses terminology found in the games themselves. As for using 'MK8', I think it's a decent compromise since the games haven't given an official console identifier to those tracks yet, though I would consider changing it to 'Wii U' or something similar, or just using normal identifiers specifically for the Mario Kart 8 tracks since we're not trying to replicate Nintendo's way of doing it in that case.
 * 2) Per Porplemontage's comment.
 * 3) Per all.

Comments
@Hewer: The current naming scheme is confusing by all accounts. The proposal was updated to address your statement. 11:25, May 15, 2021 (EDT)

It is the way it is because Nintendo is essentially providing an identifier for us when they do retro courses. If a person is playing a newer game and look up a retro course, they will probably search how it is shown in the game (e.g. "SNES Rainbow Road") and if they see the article title as "Raindow Road (SNES)" on Google, that makes a lot of sense. "Raindow Road (Super Mario Kart)" isn't great because it doesn't match that extra piece of info Nintendo is attributing to the course, the user might not even know the title for the SNES game, and the course isn't just appearing in Super Mario Kart - it's appearing in the newer game as well. -- 11:40, May 15, 2021 (EDT)
 * This sounds like trying to fit a square tile into a round hole. Nintendo’s own convention isn’t compatible with our rules and trying to integrate it as such leads to situations like the Donut Plains article doublet I mentioned in the proposal. Also, the “these courses are not exclusive to one game” justification can be extended to electronic systems too; SNES Donut Plains 1 appears on SNES, DS, and mobile systems, so it’s not exclusive to one system like the identifier implies. 13:14, May 15, 2021 (EDT)
 * If their conventions weren't compatible with our rules then we probably wouldn't have incorporated them into our rules. 14:17, May 15, 2021 (EDT)
 * And yet, here we are. 14:36, May 15, 2021 (EDT)
 * One thing worth mentioning is that Nintendo GameCube (battle course) and Nintendo DS (battle course) are somehow exceptions to this rule. I still vividly remember contacting Porplemontage about this three years ago, and while his response was adequate enough (it would be "too dumb" to use "Nintendo DS (DS)"), I don't find it a good excuse to keep the policy exception. And there's also Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit race course layouts which also have their own articles; so would World 1-1 (race course) become "World 1-1 (MKLHC)"? Like Koopa con Carne keeps saying, there's too much confusion with this policy. 14:47, May 15, 2021 (EDT)
 * I think using normal identifiers for Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit specifically is fine, since there's nothing official to try to match there whereas there is for the other games besides Mario Kart 8. 16:02, May 15, 2021 (EDT)

I don't want to lose the "SNES" element in the article title for retro courses since I definitely consider that to be part of the official title, as well as for purposes of SEO and people finding the article they're looking for. Here is my counter-proposal: For tracks which have appeared as retro courses, move them to "SNES Donut Plains 1" format. That doesn't conflict with the level since it's a different title. For the rest, use traditional game identifiers. This creates an inconsistency from track article to track article, but I believe it is the most technically correct solution based on how Nintendo names them, and it eliminates the "MK8" guess. -- 15:23, May 15, 2021 (EDT)
 * I would support that, it stays consistent with how Nintendo does it and technically goes with our policy of using the most recent English name. 16:02, May 15, 2021 (EDT)

Miscellaneous
None at the moment.