Forum:Possible overhaul of the file policy to cover videos

For anybody who doesn't know, Wikia converted uploaded YouTube videos to files on Monday, with this trailer being an example. I don't like that they did this and how they did this without telling the Wikia community at large and it seems neither does anybody else but seeing as we're stuck with it, our only choice is to get used to it.

So where does the issue lie? The problem with this is the fact that new videos are added without any kind of categorisation whatsoever, meaning it's hard to distinguish between canon content and personal embeds as well as the fact it makes maintenance a whole lot harder. While beforehand we were fairly lenient with video content on the wiki, the changes have placed a heavier burden on anybody who patrols files and thus restricts the scope of how videos can be used as we're left to our own devices to sort them.

So I'm proposing we overhaul the Image and Files policy to cover videos and discuss what types of videos are allowed (not including the obvious trailers, developer interviews, Gamescom etc.) and how we handle videos as a whole.

What's everyone's viewpoint on this matter? 19:59, June 19, 2013 (UTC)

Discussion
I must admit that I'm not nearly as familiar with this sort of thing as I probably should be. So I'm going to be sitting this discussion out, except to say that we should find some solution that makes sure the principles of the current IFP are carried forward, especially the copyright one as it is a biggie. I wonder if it would be possible or practical to simply add onto the IFP rather than completely overhaul it... but again, I am not in the know on this particular issue so I just don't know what is and isn't practical. --  LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 02:05, June 20, 2013 (UTC)
 * Seeing as they're embeds, it's probably safe to say as far as copyright goes, that's down to YouTube to handle. We've just been thrown into the deep end, if anything, when it comes to searching for videos on-wiki as they're all placed together. 17:13, June 20, 2013 (UTC)
 * What effect, if any, would this have on our YouTube channel? --  LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 17:50, June 21, 2013 (UTC)
 * Depending on however this discussion turns out, I don't think Wikia's changes would undermine our YT channel. It would still give us a more flexible platform for hosting and content would just get an embed page here if we used any of it. We'd still have to worry about copyright for our own YT channel but other than that, there are no major effects. 21:25, June 22, 2013 (UTC)
 * I don't think it would be a good idea to overhaul the file policy just until we solve the issue of the videos. Instead, I think someone should come up with a brief draft of a possible new ruleset for the problem at hand. As for what types of videos, I think it's fair to say that we do not want YouTube Sim Players videos (i.e Let's Play's, CAS videos etcetera) cluttering the wiki as some of the YouTubers may catch wind of their videos being shown on the wiki and then that'll begin all sort of conflict. I may be going into that a tad bit too far. Beds (parlare - da leggere ) 16:34, June 25, 2013 (UTC)

To make discussion more accessible, let's just ignore the current Image and file policy for now and think solely on videos.

The issues at hand which we need to discuss are:
 * how we want to go about categorising videos;
 * how we handle personal videos (which includes but is not limited to "Let's Play" videos);
 * what kinds of videos would be deemed as notable for mainspace use (like trailers, certified developer videos etc.)

Obviously videos that go against general policies (like porn, shock content, gore) are forbidden but we need an overview of how the community would like to treat videos. Then once we have that we can discuss fitting it in with the current Image and file policy. 12:00, June 28, 2013 (UTC)
 * Hmm.... one thing to consider is whether the video is useful, whether it illustrates some aspect of an article, such as the uses of an object. Dharden (talk) 15:35, July 24, 2013 (UTC)
 * Dharden, if we're going to consider those points, would it be beneficial to categorize video files similarly to what we do now (E.g. a trailer of The Sims 3: Island Paradise would be "a video from The Sims 3")? Ѧüя◎ґ (talk) 07:54, August 3, 2013 (UTC)
 * I believe it would. IMO, if there is any upside to treating videos as files, it is that individual wikis can categorize them as they see fit. Dharden (talk) 12:26, August 3, 2013 (UTC)

No consensus yet. Bumping the thread. Hopefully we can re-start this discussion and conclude it relatively soon. --  LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 22:17, August 22, 2013 (UTC)