Forum:Dispute over at Megami Tensei Wiki

Here goes nothing...

Over at the Megami Tensei Wiki, I am advocating a Manual of Style change towards the present Manual.
 * Present: Use only official names for the title. The title should always be the official Japanese title, unless an official English equivalent title appears. E.g. The game "Revelations: Persona" should be named "Megami Ibunroku Persona". "Devil Summoner: Kuzunoha Raidou tai Chouriki Heidan" should be named "Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha Vs. The Soulless Army" with no Shin Megami Tensei on the front since it is not actually part of the Shin Megami Tensei sub-series.
 * Proposal: New articles should be named according to the subject's official English term in all cases, even in the case of multiple character names, except when there is no official English term which will then be substituted to the official Japanese version.

The Megami Tensei series is notorious for being... localized by Atlus USA in a way that upsets the Atlus Japan's version, which is where the games come from: from "Americanizing" a game; such as in Revelations:Persona, to translating names disregarding the mythical backstory behind it; such as translating Aegis, an android that was meant to symbolize the mythical shield Aegis, to Aigis.

However, in recent titles, Atlus has attempted to correct the situation and localize its content close to its source, as well as giving careful detail in their localization effort, although there are still areas where Atlus USA came up with its own localized content. With that in mind, I proposed to the wikia, which I am also an administrator, to use the official North American titling where applicable, with the idea that the wiki is an English wiki geared to an English-speaking audience that should be more familiar with the North American titles, and it is high time that we use the recent localization. However, the current stance is that it is a wiki in English that talks about Japanese games and that Japanese source should be used for all articles regardless if a North American localization exists. A dispute had took place in a a discussion page here.

I would like to appeal to the Wikia gaming community on this matter concerning whether my proposal is sound or whether the current style is fine. I have weighed in the problems that might arise if my proposal is implemented: such as wiki formatting and moves that isn't at all a problem given my experience with working on a wiki, plus any confusion that might arise can easily be explained within the article body. I appreciate any input on this, and I will listen if the community is against my proposal.  BLUER   一番   04:37, 19 May 2009 (UTC)


 * Sorry, Bluerfn, but I don't think it's appropriate for people who don't contribute to your wiki to intervene. If you proposal is facing defeat, then it's better to just accept defeat. If users from other wikis intervene, it may brew discontent with your wiki's community. The central wiki isn't a higher power after all. Wjxhuang,  the 888th Avatar  {Talk} 09:56, 19 May 2009 (UTC)