User:Walkazo/Essays

Here's where I shall rant about my views on the Mario series or the Super Mario Wiki itself. I like writing these sort of spiels in the first person, so by school standards my "essays" would fail (they're supposed to be in the third person, like lab reports, and things). I also like rambling, so don't expect picture-perfect structuring either; this is for me, not English class. And because it's for me, I'm not gonna sugar-coat anything; there's not gonna be swearing or flaming or anything like that, but I'm not gonna be spending hours using a thesaurus to come up with less pejorative synonyms for "stupid", "lazy" or that sorta ilk. You've been warned.

Organization

 * Mario (Including Mario Kart, Mario Party, all Mario sports titles, Paper Mario, Mario & Luigi, and everything else with "Mario" in it's title.)
 * Yoshi
 * Wario
 * WarioWare
 * Pyoro
 * Donkey Kong
 * Donkey Konga
 * Diddy Kong Racing
 * Banjo
 * Conker
 * Crossovers:
 * Mario Hoops 3-on-3
 * Final Fantasy
 * Itadaki Street DS
 * Itadaki Street
 * Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
 * Sonic
 * Super Smash Bros (Our Page)
 * The Legend of Zelda
 * Kirby
 * Star Fox
 * Metroid
 * Pikmin
 * Mother (Earthbound)
 * (Golden Sun, Animal Crossing trophies)
 * All else go to Wikipedia

Justification
The links between Mario, Wario (including WarioWare), Donkey Kong (and its affiliates), and Yoshi are constantly being strengthened with Sports, Party and Racing games, whereas Banjo and Conker have been disassociated with the major Mario series since their beginnings in Diddy Kong Racing. This is why I feel series pages are enough coverage of these two for the time being - there's more relevant aspects of the Mario superseries (in relation to Mario and the other "core" series) that need the attention. Perhaps in the future, Banjo and Conker could be given full coverage, but that time is not yet upon us. As for Pyoro, it is still a new series, but (as far as I know), it's branching away from WarioWare too; because of this and the fact that Pyoro is as far removed from the central focus of this Wiki ("Mario" titles) as Banjo and Conker, by that same reasoning, it should only be given general coverage as well.

Now, the reason I include WarioWare under Wario, Donkey Konga and Diddy Kong Racing under Donkey Kong, and all the "Mario" games under Mario is because I feel they are all joined at the hip. The Mario Kart, Party and sports titles all bear "Mario" in their names, and feature Mario above all the other characters, so I consider them Mario titles. The same goes for all the "mainstream" Mario games: Paper Mario is no less of a Mario game than Super Mario Bros., in my opinion. The Wario games can be grouped together by the same rule: Wario Land titles and WarioWare titles both star Wario and have his name in their titles; he is an integral part in both (sub-)series. And while he may wear different clothes in WarioWare, I consider them Wario games as much as I do Wario Land. While I can apply this logic to the relationship between Donkey Kong's starring roles in the Donkey Kong and Donkey Konga titles, Diddy Kong Racing requires a bit more weaselling. DKR does not have "Donkey Kong" in its title, nor does it feature the big ape; this would be a problem, if that wasn't already a normal occurrence in the main DK titles: Donkey Kong Country 2 also features Diddy over the eponymous DK, and Donkey Kong Country 3 goes a step further and cuts out both stars of the original Donkey Kong Country. Clearly it's not "Donkey" but "Kong" that matters in the DK Country (and DK Land) games, so why should DK Racing be treated any different? - In my defense, it's not speculation, it's interpretation.

Finally, we can just externally link to all the non-Mario series encountered in the crossover titles. I'd even like to see less Super Smash Bros. coverage here, and leave everything that doesn't deal specifically with Mario to our NIWA associate, SmashWiki. This will give us more room to talk about our own series, and we won't be competing with them for readers and writers anymore.

And that's my two-cents on the whole thing.

Redirection
What merits a redirect? Plurals do, as do commonly-made spelling errors, like "Mario and Luigi" instead of "Mario & Luigi". There was once a "Bananna" redirect, but that was deleted; it had crossed that line from sensible to silly - at least, according to its deletor it had, but not its creator, which begs the question of what is "too far"? Which spelling mistakes should we compensate for? Which abbreviations should we use? Everyone is bound to have different opinions on this, so the challenge will be to look at it objectively and make sure it doesn't turn into a discussion of who's right and who's being unreasonable. A balance needs to be struck so that the Wiki is easy to use, yet not bogged down with unnecessary redirects.

The easiest way to communicate my thoughts is with an example: "Mario Kart: Double Dash!!".

This title includes punctuation marks, which are one the largest stumbling blocks for searchers. For that reason, I would allow the redirects, "Mario Kart Double Dash", "Mario Kart Double Dash!!" and "Mario Kart: Double Dash".


 * There is also a possibility that someone would only use one exclamation mark, however I feel we have no obligation to compensate for this mistake. None of the other Mario Kart titles have exclamation marks, so the searchers would not have a preconceived notion of Mario Kart titles possessing single "!"s. The exclamation marks in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! are meant to further the sense of urgency from the "dash" while at the same time emphasizing the "double" in the title; they are unique to that game, and should be memorable for that fact. Of course, no one's memory is perfect, and while someone may recall punctuation at the end of the title, they may erroneously assume there is only one "!", like in grammatically-correct exclamations; but that is no fault of ours. It should be no trouble to them if they have to re-search with different punctuation, whereas two redirects ("Mario Kart Double Dash!" and "Mario Kart: Double Dash!") eats up precious server space.

While spelling mistakes are a common place on the Internet, they should be given less leeway than punctuation mistakes.


 * Personally, I often try to spell "Double Dash" as "Double-Dash", but that's my own fault, and I think including ""Mario Kart: Double-Dash!!", ""Mario Kart Double-Dash", "Mario Kart Double-Dash!!" and "Mario Kart: Double-Dash" as redirects would not be a good idea. It's better to learn though one's mistakes, and being forced to drop the hyphen when searching or linking certainly bores the correct spelling into my brain better than simply noticing I accidentally went to a redirect would.


 * The reason I said "Mario and Luigi" is acceptable before is because symbols are another matter: "+"s, "&"s and "and"s are all used in Mario titles, so if someone forgets when "+"s and "&"s are used and defaults to "and", that is reasonable. However, substituting "+"s for "&" should not be allowed, since, like my "double-dash" error, there is a limit to how much we should enable the searchers' memory laps.


 * English spelling mistakes should never be turned into redirects, with the exception of British vs. American spellings and titles that contain unusual characters (i.e. "Pokémon" vs. "Pokemon"). Both British and American spellings are valid on this Wiki, while unusual characters don't always appear on keyboards, and can be easily forgotten. The unusual character rule also applies to non-English languages that still use Latin characters, such as the German Club Nintendo subjects.


 * Japanese names with no English equivalent are given more leeway, however, as many sounds can be written with many different spellings (i.e Trezyan; Treajan; Treasan and Torezyan for Torejan). Common spelling mistakes can also be turned into redirects when they're for the hot-button topics of newly-released games, seeing as there will probably be a lot of searchers looking for these pages, and so the redirects are all worth-while. On the other hand, Japan-only titles that have been out for a while won't be searched for as much, and so no spelling error redirects should be made for them. Once an English translation is established, the Japanese redirects become redundant (as this is an English Wiki) and can slowly be phased-out - starting with the spelling mistakes.

As with all games, there are many possible abbreviations searchers may use for "Mario Kart: Double Dash!!" Personally, I use "MKDD" and "MKDD!!", though I know "MK DD", "MK DD!!", "MK:DD!!", "MK:DD", "MK: DD!!" and "MK: DD" are also used. All of these are valid redirects, however many other short-forms aren't. I often call the game "Double Dash" in conversation to save on time, but I know better than to type that in on the search bar to look for the game, and so should other searchers. The point of the Wiki is to be a user-friendly database, but anyone who feels "Double Dash", "Double Dash!!", ""DD", "DD!!" and even the unlikely "Kart: Double Dash!!" (as well as its derivatives, "Kart: Double Dash", "Kart Double Dash!!" and "Kart Double Dash") should all be redirects are simply being lazy and unreasonable.

In addition to abbreviations are alternate titles, though this is more applicable to people, places and things, rather than games like "Mario Kart: Double Dash!!". In most cases, any official name Nintendo has provided should become a redirect, which is why Peach, Princess Peach Toadstool, Princess Toadstool and Toadstool all redirect to Princess Peach - they're all valid names.


 * However, it gets difficult when nicknames are involved. While some would argue that "Weegie" is a famous enough nickname of Luigi's to merit a redirect, others would say searchers should know better than to use nicknames and simply type in an actual name or common title. Moreover, one-time nicknames (such as "M" for Mario in Mario is Missing!, or "Butterball" for Bowser in Super Paper Mario) should not get redirects either.


 * Pluralizations are much more clear-cut: they should be allowed for species and items (except for one-of-a-kind objects), as they are proper spellings in their own rights, and people may often link and/or search for them instead of for the singular names.

Finally, capitalization is a point that is often disagreed upon surrounding redirects. While it is much easier to type in the lowercase words, like abbreviations, it is also lazy, and a line has to be drawn. Game titles are proper names, and searchers should recognize this; other search engines may be able to compensate for capitalization, but we can't, and we shouldn't have any obligation to make up for that with hundreds of redirects. Therefore, I say "mario kart: double dash", "mario kart: double dash!!", "mario kart double dash!!", "mario kart double dash" and any uncapitalized abbreviations (i.e. "mkdd") should not be redirects.

Summarizing List
The following chart summarizes what I believe should and shouldn't be redirects in relation to Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. The "Grey Area" list is the redirects I'd like second opinions on, either because I'm not completely against them (the ones with parentheses after them), or because they're controversial capitalization redirects (in italics).

And just so we're clear on how many redirects you can get if you let every single capitalization, punctuation and hyphenation permutation (for "Mario Kart: Double Dash!!" and "MKDD") get a redirect, there would be all the above pages, plus 132 more.

Categorizing Merged Levels
If all the levels were merged into their parent world pages, it would cut down on stubs, red links, navigation time, template space and organizational hassles when it comes to the many forms of "Level 1-1" and its ilk. The only thing it would cut back on that isn't so great are categories. For example, if single level in a world is underwater while the rest is a forest, an impasse is reached: the level must be acknowledged on a navigational level as an underwater area, but the entire world cannot be categorized as such. The solution: adding the links to the individual sections to the "summary" of the category page itself. I don't think this has ever been done before, and new things are very scary, but hear me out: with a little work, this could be a very good thing instead.

Firstly, not all categories are gonna get tripped up by a merge. The categories that apply to individual games or series will still work: they'll merely go on the world pages instead of on each level page (and complaining that the world itself isn't a level is sorta splitting hairs at this point - all the info in the page is about the levels, after-all).

On the other and, some categories will be rendered completely unfeasible: fir example, if all the Ghost Houses are part of the Super Mario World world pages, there hardly needs to be a category for them. However this isn't a problem in this case, since the Ghost House page itself sports a directory of Ghost House locations - the category is hardly needed when all the pages are already linked to in one place.

And between the two extremes we have the categories that will need to be rewritten to include the introductory list. Merely using the links will probably mess us some of the fancier aspects of how the Wiki works (like DPL and other things I don't even try to understand), but at a basic level, it'll ensure that the readers still get all the applicable links when they search using a category. It could even make navigation easier: right now, all the levels from all the various games are mixed together, often with worlds and miscellaneous areas thrown in as well; a list gives us the option to organize the raw data. We could subdivide the lists into the parent games, sparing people the task of having to comb through all the pages if they're looking for things like the subterranean areas of Yoshi's Island DS, for example. Some games will even allow for the levels to be clustered together into their worlds in the lists. Take the Subterranean Areas of Super Mario World for example (with all the unmade section-links left as raw coding; also, the ";" header coder doesn't work in quoteblocks):

;Super Mario World
 * Donut Plains 2 and Donut Secret.
 * All basic levels of Vanilla Dome, including Vanilla Ghost House and Lemmy's Castle, as well as Vanilla Secrets 1 and 3, and the Red Switch Palace.
 * Chocolate Island 4 and Chocolate Secret.
 * All the levels in the Valley of Bowser, including Larry's Castle and Bowser's Castle, and the Valley Ghost House.

Which would look like:

Super Mario World
 * and.
 * All basic levels of Vanilla Dome, including and, as well as Vanilla Secrets  and , and the Red Switch Palace.
 * and.
 * All the levels in the Valley of Bowser, including and Bowser's Castle, and the.

It could even be simpler: when an entire world fits the category, linking to the individual sections seems redundant. However, when only a couple levels in the world fit the bill, they should both get their own section-links, since linking to the page as a whole would be wrong. With these changes, it would be written like this:

;Super Mario World
 * Donut Plains 2 and Donut Secret.
 * All basic levels of Vanilla Dome, including Vanilla Ghost House and Lemmy's Castle, as well as Vanilla Secrets 1 and 3, and the Red Switch Palace.
 * Chocolate Island 4 and Chocolate Secret.
 * All the levels in the Valley of Bowser, including Larry's Castle and Bowser's Castles, and the Valley Ghost House]].

And look like this:

Super Mario World
 * Donut Plains 2 and Donut Secret.
 * All basic levels of Vanilla Dome, including Vanilla Ghost House and Lemmy's Castle, as well as Vanilla Secrets 1 and 3, and the Red Switch Palace.
 * Chocolate Island 4 and Chocolate Secret.
 * All the levels in the Valley of Bowser, including Larry's Castle and Bowser's Castles, and the Valley Ghost House]].

Both versions make it much easier to see what levels are from SMW if you didn't know to look for "Donut Plains" and whatnot. Proving additional tidbits of info, like how the Red Switch Palace is underground because it's in Vanilla Dome is also a plus - though the reader would have learned this the moment they clicked on any of the related links. While games like Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island - and its evenly distributed subterranean levels - couldn't be grouped like this (it'd have to be traditional one-by-one lists), seeing the different organizational methods would be another bonus heads-up to the nature of the games. It may not be a direct goal of this innovation, but it's certainly not a detractor.

Also, while I've organized my example by sequential order, the actual lists should be alphabetical (by world, if they're like SMW) - to match the category entries below. This is a given for the one-by-one lists, but as you can see in my example, the "compound" lists lend themselves to the sequential order quite nicely. I organized my example like that to make sure I got all the levels (I haven't played SMW in a while), and I was too lazy to change it back; also, I personally prefer it this way, though I know it would look too inconsistent to actually employ.

Koopa Taxonomy
There are many kinds of Koopa: some are like Koopa Troopas, some are like Bowser, some are like Lakitu, some are like Hammer Bros., and if I had my way, Buzzy Beetles and Clubbas would be Koopas too. Are these different species? Are Red Magikoopas and Yellow Magikoopas different species, or do they just wear different clothes? And what are sub-species? Koopatrols? KP Koopas? What's the relationship between Dark Koopas in Paper Mario and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Dark Koopas in Super Paper Mario? What is Bowser? And what the heck is a Koopa anyway? Since Nintendo didn't give us any sort of Koopa taxonomy, evolutionary chart, fossil record or family tree, it's totally up to us to answer those questions.

This is not impossible: mother nature didn't share her blueprints either, and yet we still know that spiders and crabs are cousins, and that tapeworms and earthworms aren't. We can't tell if Koopas evolved from turtles or dinosaurs, but we can tell that Bowser is not a Koopa Troopa based on the fact that they look nothing alike, besides their shells and overall skin colour. It's just like how tapeworms and earthworms look nothing alike beyond the fact that they're long and limbless and don't make for pleasant dinner conversations. By analyzing the facts, we can make reasonable deductions, enabling us to organize these enemy pages logically with minimal speculation involved, if we do it right. For example, we can associate Fire Bros. and Boomerang Bros. in because they are nearly identical except for colouration and some physical capabilities (fire or boomerang), just as we can say Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Golden-crowned Kinglets are closely related based on the fact that their body makeup is virtually the same, but their facial feathers and songs are different. But unlike the cute little birdies, we can't speculate on how the Fire and Boomerang Bros. are related: we can't assign them genera or place them in phylogenetic trees, but I think we can say they're different species. True, Nintendo never said they are, but, I mean, one breathes fire and one doesn't: any biologist will tell you that's enough to separate them.

Unfortunately, the "species" vs. "sub-species" debate is where things get really sticky; if you bring race into it too, all the stickier. It's easier just to say they're different "types" of a larger "group" of Koopas which are "related" to one-another, but our nature is to stick "species" in there as well - since it sounds more professional, and more importantly, way more posh. We can justify "species" when there's no doubt to the biology (if it quacks like a duck, it's a duck; if it's pitch black and throws hammers, it's a Dark Hammer Bro.), but when you have really similar enemies, the arguments start to waver. A no-brainer example: KP Koopas are basic Koopa Troopas who merely dyed their shells a different colour; they're "different", but not different species or even a different race or sub-species, just like how punk rockers who dyed their hair blue are still humans - very cool humans. A more difficult example: Dark Koopas in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Paper Mario are more Koopa Troopas of a different colour, but they also have unique skills and live in a specific habitat, so are they a sub-species, or a race, or what? In cases like these, to label them is to make an assumption out of uncertainty, which we have to avoid as much we can: no more of this "sub-species" nonsense - therein lies the face of speculation.

Now, the reason for this spiel (aside from my love of taxonomy) is the confusion over "Koopa" vs. "Koopa Troopa", and what to do with their respective articles. As I said before, to the best of my understanding, the "Koopa Troopa" is a specific species (with many similar species and races attached to it, though the actual relationships between the organisms are ambiguous), and "Koopa" is a general term for all the vaguely turtle/dragonish creatures (I'd call it an Order, but that would be speculation to the max). Therefore, I believe it is a very good thing to have separate Koopa and Koopa Troopa pages: one for the species, one for all the shelled enemies. Currently, Koopa is just a partial list of all the major species and some of the minor species, and that should be changed: it should be an annotated list of all the species. Note the "annotated" part: that's what will set the page apart from a mere category or a list in Koopa (disambiguation): it will give context to the Koopas, allowing us to present them in an organized and logical manner, and as long as we watch ourselves, it can be one that is virtually free of speculation. An example of what the Lakitu section could look like is at the end of this essay.

Of course, some level of speculation is unavoidable. Like tapeworms and earthworms, things like Sumo Bro. and Hammer 'Bro. may not be related at all, but if names are good enough reasons to cram everything else on the Wiki together (A Pirate Goomba is a Goomba? Who knew!), why not here too? No matter what we do, we will have to make some assumptions, but none wil be as large and misguided as saying "Koopa" = "Koopa Troopa" = all Koopas and merging the pages. Bowser is not a Koopa Troopa: any biologist could tell you that even if they never played a videogame in their life (like my Animal Diversity teacher: instead, he spends all his free time studying tapeworms). Therefore, we can't write about Bowser's species in Koopa Troopa, and if we merge Koopa, we lose the only logical place to put it - we'd have to make a nameless stub about them, which would be against various Super Mario Wiki policies. For this specific reason, and for the organizational benefits I stated above, in the name of taxonomy and in the spirit of organization, I say we leave the pages separate.

Lakitu
Lakitus are bespectacled Koopas who ride clouds through the skies, and which can occasionally be found snorkeling in water and hiding in walls or pipes. Unlike most Koopa species, they do not have snouts or beaks, but flat faces; their shells are also unique in their circular patterning. To attack, Lakitus typically throw unlimited numbers of Spiny Eggs at their opponents, and some will also dangle 1-Up Mushrooms from fishing poles to lure their targets closer.


 * Lakitus
 * Aqua Lakitu - A race of Lakitu that lives underwater with the aid of scuba gear, coming to the surface to breathe and throw Spiny Eggs.
 * Calm Lakitu - Lakitus that inhabit Vibe Island, where they are associated with the Calm Vibe, incarnating the power by sleeping most of the time.
 * Dark Lakitu - Lakitus that are darker in colour with red shells and that throw Sky-Blue Spinies.
 * Fishin' Lakitu - Lakitus that use Fishing Rods baited with a 1-Up Mushroom to lure enemies near their clouds. Once the bait is taken the rod is withdrawn and Spinies are thrown. The Fishing Rod can also be used to hook enemies, support various objects, or to simply fish.
 * Lakipea - The Beanish Lakitus. Lakipea have a leaf-like appendage growing from their head, inhabit vine-covered clouds, and throw the Beanish variation of Spiny, Sharpea.
 * Lakitufo - Red-shelled Lakitus bioengineered by the Shroobs to possess strange extraterrestrial features, including antennae in place of hair. They ride UFOs instead of clouds and beam down Spiny Shroopas in lieu of Spinies. They can also jump off their UFOs and assault their enemies themselves with a screw attack.
 * Pipe Lakitu - Lakitus that hide in Warp Pipes to ambush enemies (still attacking with Spiny Eggs).
 * Roketon - A species of Lakitu that flies in airplanes through the skies of Sarasaland. Instead of throwing Spinies, Roketons fire large amounts of Giras from their aircraft to attack their enemies.
 * Thunder Lakitu - This species of Lakitu has a red shell (like Dark Lakitus) and tanned skin. Instead of throwing Spinies it shoots fire generated by a device in its cloud that harnesses the energy from the sun.
 * Wall Lakitu - Lakitus that hide behind hills and other objects in order to throw Spiny Eggs in surprise-attacks.