User talk:Neff

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Please remember to sign your name when leaving comments on talk pages by clicking or using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. Feel free to delete this message from your talk page if you like, or keep it for reference. Happy editing! — Prod (talk) 01:34, 26 July 2023 (UTC)

Final Fantasy names

With all of the name changes that you are making, how are you making sure that players who are playing the NES or PSX versions of the game understand which spell names and locations you are referring to? It's not OK to make the guides specific to one particular version of the game, the guide must be accessible to any player playing any version of the game. NES players do not know what Curaga or Curaja are because those spells don't have those names in the game. How do you propose to overcome this problem? Procyon 00:39, 2 August 2023 (UTC)

I feel we need a page which has a lookup table of all the different names from the different versions. We stick to one version of naming (first official localization) and we can maybe add a reference/link to the version naming page? -- Prod (talk) 01:37, 2 August 2023 (UTC)

I am aware that my approach isn't ideal. I assumed that the lastest names for spells were going to be used in this wiki, mainly because on the 'Black magic' and 'White magic' pages those names are at the top of each table (under spell listings) and bold faced.

When I looked at other pages for Final Fantasy I found that sometimes the NES names, sometimes the PSX names and other times the GBA names were used. The issue you mentioned (NES players do not know what Curaga or Curaja are because those spells don't have those names in the game.) was present before, just the other way around. I simply was trying to make it more consistent. In addition, most of the edits I made to the spell names were links to the respective pages, so you could look up what each spell is, if you were unsure: The 'Black magic' and 'White magic' pages list 3 names for the spells and the links I edited link to the sections directly.

I like the idea of a lookup table. We would have to decide which version of names we are going to use (I don't care which one) and stay consistent. Where do you add the link to the lookup table page though? Neff (talk) 13:55, 2 August 2023 (UTC)

Another reason for updating the spell names was that links didn't work properly when the old names were used. For example: Cure4 doesn't link to the right section, but Curaja does. Neff (talk) 14:01, 2 August 2023 (UTC)

I found the Control_selector template and was wondering if we could use this? You would choose the version of game you're playing which would then change the spell names etc. on the page. But it would have to display "select game" instead of "select controller". That would be the best solution in my opinion, but I don't know if it's possible. Neff (talk) 18:25, 2 August 2023 (UTC)

I'm not sure I like the idea of using {{Control selector}}. It's primarily for controller buttons, where you can see visually it's the wrong system and change it. With differing names, especially some which are completely different, it may not be obvious to users which version they're on, or that they should change it. One possibility is having a reference. Another possibility is to put the alt names in a hover, similar to {{nihongo}} (see example). Regarding which version, probably the first localized version is the most appropriate based on our usual policies, this way we don't have to keep updating the guide every time a new game changes the names. But the latest release is probably the most useful to users. To add a page with a lookup table, you can add a new link to the Table of Contents page. -- Prod (talk) 21:20, 2 August 2023 (UTC)

Thank you for the reply. I'm trying to figure out how this nihongo template works ... one (two, three^?) ... it just puts the alternate names in parenthesis? How do I create a link then? [[Final Fantasy/White magic#Curaja|CUR4 (Cure4, Curaja^?)]] this doesn't work..

This seems to work: CUR4 (Cure4, Curaja^?)

But then we would have to write all 3 (or more) names of every item, spell, location etc. every time a name comes up, which would make the pages more difficult to read.

I'm not sure what the best solution is. Maybe a reference is the way to go. But again: do we put a reference in for every mention of the name? Neff (talk) 23:27, 2 August 2023 (UTC)

That template is just an example. We'd make a custom template for this specifically. So it looks like^?, or this, or even a combination of both. We could even put it all in a template which would automatically enter the right term based on the lookup tables. I think the first step though is to create the page with the comparison. I'd suggest Final Fantasy/Versions. -- Prod (talk) 04:30, 3 August 2023 (UTC)

Thanks for the suggestions, Prod. I wasn't entirely sure how to start, so I created a simple table in the StrategyWiki:Sandbox. Is that what you imagined? Neff (talk) 12:50, 3 August 2023 (UTC)

Looking at the guide further, the version differences are mentioned on pages like Final Fantasy/White magic. I guess the question is just the best way to display it on guide pages, and link to the relevant lookups. Are all the different version names listed on those pages? -- Prod (talk) 23:23, 3 August 2023 (UTC)

I'm not sure I understand what you mean. Are the "relevant lookups" pages that need to be created or do you refer to e.g. White magic? "Are all the different version names listed on those pages?" If you refer to White magic, Weapons, Key items, etc. then I can't give you a definitive answer, it is very inconsistent and not well structured (compare the tables on the weapons and armor pages with key items for example). The White magic page is done better than most other pages but it's far from perfect. The tables under Spell listings look good I suppose. But they also only list the names from NES, PSX and GBA. Afaik PSP and Pixel Remaster changed a few names yet again (I don't know for sure, haven't played them, I only looked it up online). And the problem is not just the spell names, but also weapons, armor, some locations, many key items etc.

When you refer to "guide pages" do you mean the pages under walkthrough?

I really liked your idea of making a template like this. What would a page with the comparison look like? I made a simple table in the Sandbox, would that be usable or does it have to have a different structure? I'm willing to help, but I haven't much experience with wiki's. If you clearly tell me what to do, I'll work on it. -- Neff (talk) 13:41, 4 August 2023 (UTC)