Game wikis just aren't as popular anymore?

BlanketsWithSmallpox@lemmy.world to Games@lemmy.world – 130 points –

Has anyone else noticed that Wikis for most games just aren't as complete anymore?

I'm the one helping to fill in stuff these days when I swear most games had pretty fully Wiki pages within a week of release. Have most of these just moved to actual Gaming article websites? They sure as hell haven't gone to Gamefaqs lol.

I've recently played Diablo 4, Remnant 2, 30XX, Armored Core 6, and just started Have a Nice Death... and I've had to help with additions on nearly every free Wiki... Never used to have to do this...

76

You are viewing a single comment

It doesn't surprise me at all that people have become less willing to contribute to wikis, now that the likes of Fandom/Wikia and Fextralife are the dominant wiki hosts. Who wants to give away their free labour and time to profit corporations, and have their work mired in cesspools of obnoxious advertising, awkward javascript interfaces, and web tracking?

I think what we need are independent wiki hosts. For example, have a look at https://bg3.wiki/

To help your point. Halopedia is still extremely active and will have info from new books within a week. The site has their own software and it's community run, so people still feel engaged.

I think you're entirely on the money

Yeah I remember seeing an article about Baldur's Gate 3 having a wiki being unique.

Simple fact is that hosting costs $$$. And you don't get something free unless there's ads involved or you're so small you can cover the cost yourself.

Perhaps there's an opportunity here for a nonprofit organization, accepting donations like wikimedia does, to offer hosting to gaming communities?

Edit:

This would not only benefit gamers directly, but also help with cultural preservation, which is increasingly problematic as games disappear from store fronts.

Also, a wiki run by a funded organization is less likely to vanish than one operated by a single person, whose circumstances might change.

Terraria wiki is not a fandom site

I expect you mean terraria.wiki.gg, rather than terraria.fandom.com (which was the first result in my web search). I don't love the fact that it has a google tracker, but otherwise, it looks nice.

Looks like Pokémon also has an independent (but not tracker-free) wiki: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net

Pokemon even has another wiki that's almost entirely dedicated to game data, Serebii, and yes, the design is dated, and yes, it is also the most accurate and concise source of knowledge for the series.

1 more...
1 more...
1 more...