MarioWiki:Proposals

Writing guidelines
None at the moment.

New features
None at the moment.

Removals
None at the moment.

Changes
None at the moment.

Define the scope of "Other appearances" sections
It's basically a done deal that the Mario Wiki organises most appearances of its wealth of subjects by relevant fictional works. However, some appearances, whether they are in-franchise cameos or third-party licensed appearances, are pigeonholed into an "Other appearances" section, and this is a fairly inconsistent approach that is to be discussed in general terms before any particular cases are decided upon as an "other appearance", so to speak.

Degrees of a subject's appearance in a fictional work can be delineated as:
 * Significant, in-franchise appearance: Those appearances where a subject has a perceptible effect on the viewer's or player's experience--as a character, enemy, item, or setting.
 * Cameo appearances: Those appearances where a known subject shows up but does not affect the course of a story or the gameplay, instead serving as a small distraction or piece of fan-service for the viewer or player. (Simple mentions of a subject, without said subject making any physical appearance, are taken to be "cameos" in the context of this proposal, for the sake of brevity.)
 * Appearances outside the home franchise: What it says on the tin: subjects appearing in media outside of their franchise or universe of origin. Many such appearances can be of a parodical or referential nature and not necessarily enabled or endorsed by the proprietary entity, and for those the wiki has already established coverage in the form of Lists of Mario references. However, some of these appearances, third-party as they are, are indeed licensed for use and, where applicable, warrant being covered in some form on subject articles.

Coverage for the first one, again, is firmly set in stone and disregarded by the proposal. As it's been well-established, if a Goomba kills you in a game, we make a section for that game on Goomba's article. The second and third ones are relevant here, with the third one commanding perhaps the most attention. As it stands, third-party appearances can be further assigned two scenarios: one in which we give the relevant fictional work "guest"-type article coverage, and one in which we do not.

The goal of this proposal is to draw a concrete line over which type of appearance warrants being put under an "Other appearances" section--or even to decide whether such section is necessary at all. If certain appearances are excluded from the scope of this section, they are given their own sections outside of it.

NOTE: For now, the outcome of this proposal would not overturn the decision of this proposal. Unused appearances will continue to be covered under "Other appearances" in addition to the subjects that are to be decided upon here.

Proposer: Deadline: November 18, 2021, 23:59 GMT

Integrate in-franchise cameos and third-party media
Example of in-franchise cameo: Bullet Bill block formation in Alleyway. (Relevant "Other appearances" section)

Integrate only appearances from third-party media, whether said media is covered here on its own or not
Example of appearance from a third-party media we give partial coverage to: Sledge Bro appearing as mobs in the Minecraft Super Mario Mash-Up Pack. (Relevant "Other appearances" section)

Integrate only appearances from third-party media we don't cover
Example of such appearance: Chain Chomp appearing as a weapon in Bayonetta 2. (Relevant "Other appearances" section)
 * 1) My choice.
 * 2) This seems like it would be the most consistent and logical approach.
 * 3) Per proposal.
 * 4) Per Waluigi Time.
 * 5) Seems logical to me.
 * 6) Per all.
 * 7) Obviously.

Comments
There's two specific uses of other appearances section that doesn't seem like are covered here so I might as well bring them up. First, some other appearances sections have included merchandise (i.e. Mario Chess, Gamer Monopoly), and second, a proposal a while ago made it so that unused appearances of subjects are supposed to be covered in the other appearances section as well, though this has been poorly enforced since the proposal passed. How would those cases be handled under this proposal? (For my two cents regarding unused appearances at least, I wouldn't be opposed to adding dedicated subsections for those at the end of history sections.) -- 18:00, November 9, 2021 (EST)
 * Honestly, I think the merchandise bit would require a proposal of its own, one that would complement the current proposal. It was a bit difficult to find a proper way to handle the options in this proposal, and I wouldn't like to muddy the waters by adding more to the mix. Regarding the unused content, let's say the proposal here isn't concerned with it and, in consequence, has no bearing on the decision taken in the other proposal; I should prolly add a stipulation or something. This is the proposal, right? I took a gander, and I don't really see any explicit talking about an "Other appearances", but rather about "adding indicators" where applicable--which I can't really decipher the precise meaning of, even with the offered explanation. (Would that take the form of image captions? A move to "Other appearances"? A highlight of some sort?) 19:29, November 9, 2021 (EST)
 * This one, actually. -- 19:42, November 9, 2021 (EST)

There's one thing that this proposal does not address: mentions. That is, when a character does not appear in the game at all, but is referenced either directly (e.g. Princess Peach in Luigi's Mansion) or indirectly (e.g. Wingo in Super Mario Odyssey). Where do those fit in this equation? 19:30, November 9, 2021 (EST)
 * Ah, I forgot. That would fall under "cameos". Added that to the proposal at the "Cameo appearances" description. 19:37, November 9, 2021 (EST)

I removed the "Remove section altogether" because it conflicts with the decision of the proposal brought up by. 19:54, November 9, 2021 (EST)

This is something really minor, but Bullet Bill's link doesn't actually link to other appearances. It should be Bullet Bill, not Bullet Bill. 22:44, November 9, 2021 (EST)