Eberron Wikipedia ? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Eberron Wikipedia ? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Tom McCarthy
08-10-05, 03:36 PM Anyone got the technical know how and resources to create an Eberron Wikipedia ? A Wikipedia, in my limited experience, is a dictionary that individual users can contribute to. An Eberron Wikipedia would allow several people to contribute to an electronic super index of Eberron people, places, and events. It would help us find the contradictions in the setting and help future authors avoid contradictions (by looking up things like whwere Prince Oargev has appeared before, and what's known about him).
a_psh
08-10-05, 03:54 PM You mean a wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki.).

There are some potential legal issues associated with such an effort. Specifically, because the setting is, in fact, owned and actively published by WotC, and isn't OGLed, reproducing a huge chunk of it, even if worded differently, would probably be considered not-nice, for obvious reasons.
Elentilion
08-10-05, 04:00 PM Yes, this question was made here some times before, and WotC official position (it was asked them directly) is that you're not allowed to develop such project, due to copyright issues, since all Eberron material is property of WotC.
Siran Dunmorgan
08-10-05, 04:16 PM To set up a project like this, you have two alternatives:

1) Back a dump truck full of fifties and hundreds up to Hasbro Properties Group and say "Eberron License, please!"

2) Change all of the specific words so that while it was obviously Eberron, nothing actually violated copyright. For an example of this principle in action, read Dennis McKiernan's Silver Call books.

—Siran Dunmorgan
Tom McCarthy
08-10-05, 04:24 PM Too bad. I mean, once someone pointed out the IP issues, I had to agree. But as an Eberron bible for WOTC authors, it sounds like a valuable resource. Practically speaking, though, WOTC can't afford the time and effort to create and maintain it, while the fan base can.
drunkenewok
08-11-05, 02:55 PM Having the technical knowledge, and wanting to try codifying all the data from various sources (sourcebooks, novels, web articles, AKB thread, other forums) I've started my own Eberron wiki. IANAL, but from what I understand of IP law, you can recast products you purchased into other formats, so long as you don't republish or redistribute them.

Thus, due to the IP restrictions, I can't (won't) publish it anywhere, and I can't (won't) distribute it either. The loss of the community editing ability is a huge drawback, since it's taking a lot longer than it otherwise might, and anyone else who wants to do the same will have to do just as much work to codify everything.

That said, if you have the time and the energy, I highly recommend it. The ease of use, and the ability to find related information is wonderful while running a game. However, the resources required will keep all but the most determined (or insane) from completing it.

For those who are that crazy, here are some helpful links:

MediaWiki (http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki) - the software that runs Wikipedia. There are other wiki software packages available, see List of Wiki Software (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wiki_software)
EasyPHP (http://www.easyphp.org/) - a package that installs Apache/MySQL/PHP/PHPMyAdmin which are all very useful in getting the software up and running
Omnipage (http://www.scansoft.com/omnipage/) - Optical Character Recognition software + a decent scanner will cut your typing time (and carpal tunnel syndrome) down dramatically.

These packages don't require a lot of background knowledge. It's basically a simple run the install, choose the default options, and you're done. Configuring MediaWiki does require a little effort, but the installation instructions available on their site are generally helpful.

I have yet to find a good "free" OCR package, so you're stuck forking over $100-$500 for a decent one (or getting a cheap one with a scanner purchase), but everything else is free. If anyone does know of a good Open Source OCR program, I'd love to hear about it.

Good luck. :)
ImmortalBlueMage
08-11-05, 03:01 PM http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eberron

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Tom McCarthy 08-10-05, 03:36 PM	Anyone got the technical know how and resources to create an Eberron Wikipedia ? A Wikipedia, in my limited experience, is a dictionary that individual users can contribute to. An Eberron Wikipedia would allow several people to contribute to an electronic super index of Eberron people, places, and events. It would help us find the contradictions in the setting and help future authors avoid contradictions (by looking up things like whwere Prince Oargev has appeared before, and what's known about him).
a_psh 08-10-05, 03:54 PM	You mean a wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki.). There are some potential legal issues associated with such an effort. Specifically, because the setting is, in fact, owned and actively published by WotC, and isn't OGLed, reproducing a huge chunk of it, even if worded differently, would probably be considered not-nice, for obvious reasons.
Elentilion 08-10-05, 04:00 PM	Yes, this question was made here some times before, and WotC official position (it was asked them directly) is that you're not allowed to develop such project, due to copyright issues, since all Eberron material is property of WotC.
Siran Dunmorgan 08-10-05, 04:16 PM	To set up a project like this, you have two alternatives: 1) Back a dump truck full of fifties and hundreds up to Hasbro Properties Group and say "Eberron License, please!" 2) Change all of the specific words so that while it was obviously Eberron, nothing actually violated copyright. For an example of this principle in action, read Dennis McKiernan's Silver Call books. —Siran Dunmorgan
Tom McCarthy 08-10-05, 04:24 PM	Too bad. I mean, once someone pointed out the IP issues, I had to agree. But as an Eberron bible for WOTC authors, it sounds like a valuable resource. Practically speaking, though, WOTC can't afford the time and effort to create and maintain it, while the fan base can.
drunkenewok 08-11-05, 02:55 PM	Having the technical knowledge, and wanting to try codifying all the data from various sources (sourcebooks, novels, web articles, AKB thread, other forums) I've started my own Eberron wiki. IANAL, but from what I understand of IP law, you can recast products you purchased into other formats, so long as you don't republish or redistribute them. Thus, due to the IP restrictions, I can't (won't) publish it anywhere, and I can't (won't) distribute it either. The loss of the community editing ability is a huge drawback, since it's taking a lot longer than it otherwise might, and anyone else who wants to do the same will have to do just as much work to codify everything. That said, if you have the time and the energy, I highly recommend it. The ease of use, and the ability to find related information is wonderful while running a game. However, the resources required will keep all but the most determined (or insane) from completing it. For those who are that crazy, here are some helpful links: MediaWiki (http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki) - the software that runs Wikipedia. There are other wiki software packages available, see List of Wiki Software (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wiki_software) EasyPHP (http://www.easyphp.org/) - a package that installs Apache/MySQL/PHP/PHPMyAdmin which are all very useful in getting the software up and running Omnipage (http://www.scansoft.com/omnipage/) - Optical Character Recognition software + a decent scanner will cut your typing time (and carpal tunnel syndrome) down dramatically. These packages don't require a lot of background knowledge. It's basically a simple run the install, choose the default options, and you're done. Configuring MediaWiki does require a little effort, but the installation instructions available on their site are generally helpful. I have yet to find a good "free" OCR package, so you're stuck forking over $100-$500 for a decent one (or getting a cheap one with a scanner purchase), but everything else is free. If anyone does know of a good Open Source OCR program, I'd love to hear about it. Good luck. :)
ImmortalBlueMage 08-11-05, 03:01 PM	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eberron