Forum:EA Community Relationship

Hello Sims Wikians!

My name is Jorge and I am on Wikia's Community Development team. We've been working on forging a relationship with EA recently, trying to get you and other wikis some love directly from the game creators.

I figured now would be a good time to reach out to you, the community, to see what you might want from such a relationship. Is there anything in particular you would like to receive from EA? Official recognization, perhaps? Developer involved on the wiki? Etc.?

Of course we can't make any promises, but for the time being, I would love to hear any ideas or desires you might have (even if it means you want nothing to do with EA).

I look forward to hearing from you all!

Best, Jorge (profile)•(talk) 22:43, January 2, 2013 (UTC)

Discussion
I think some recognition and maybe a little bit of promotion from EA would be nice and beneficial for the wiki. I should however note that EA are apparently following us on Twitter though I'm not sure what effect that has on anything, but to sum things up: anything positive to come from this would be pretty beneficial. 22:54, January 2, 2013 (UTC)

I think that if we formed a direct relationship with EA, it would probably be for the better. We would probably get access to better info and learn earlier about stuff like game releases and stuff packs and be entitled to more in depth content. Some people might disagree with collaborating with EA, but I'm all in. 02:12, January 3, 2013 (UTC)

I want to be a bit more of a pragmatist regarding this potential relationship. I will be blunt in saying that many users here, myself included, have dogged EA in the past and may continue to criticize them in the future. If we were to be somehow 'official' or something to that effect, would that hinder the ability of users here to fully express their feelings (be it positive or negative) towards EA, its products, its actions, etc.? Also, it's worth noting that some official status may very well increase traffic here on the wiki, so ultimately we'd need to be prepared for that too should this come to fruition.

Tl:dr I'm cautiously in favor of this idea, but think we should investigate it before we commit. --  LiR speak ~ read 04:05, January 3, 2013 (UTC)

I agree with what LiR said above me. Being directly connect to EA means we would have to keep some of our opinions to ourselves a bit more. It might also mean that some of EA's workers (SimGurus...) might become apart of the wiki and 'take over' some aspects, leaving some older users less-needed in those aspects. However as stated above, it would give us more access to rumors and official things. So at the present time I'd have to say that I am neutral for this idea, but my opinion could change. ~ Waikikamukow  ( Anyone wanna chat? ) 05:52, January 3, 2013 (UTC)

I think we should form relationship with EA because it would be good for wiki. I'd like that we have developer involved on the wiki because we could ask him/her any question but I would't like that they take our job - they should be here to help.  Life just wouldn't be the same without the Sims!  Talk  14:04, January 4, 2013 (UTC)

I wonder if we would have any direct relationships towards EA other than the said promotion? Also, if we possibly take this advantage as a direct source of information (aka rumors), we should refrain from making them as a reliable source just because "someone over EA said so." Especially that from the Rumor Confirmation point one in our Rumored Games policy, this could be a good rumor evasion from any editor. Otherwise, we wouldn't know if we need any more references from other sites anymore. But let's just set aside that technical stuff since I'm being pessimistic, and didn't know how things will be.

I wouldn't worry so much about hindering the critics. I guess many people at the official forum do critics too. I suppose it would be rather beneficial to form relationship with them. I wouldn't want them to take over any jobs or control us here what to do though, because organizing this wiki is our job.  Nikel  Talk  –  Vote!  16:08, January 4, 2013 (UTC)

Jeez, I haven't been here for ages. Anyway, I believe we should be all means get to form a connection with EA, however the community should still be the ones to run this wiki. Any EA-affiliated users should be treated as normally (not given admin rights instantly or something) and be subject to the same rules as every other user. A connection with EA is a remarkable opportunity and we should accept it. 18:57, January 6, 2013 (UTC)
 * This I like. 21:37, January 6, 2013 (UTC)

I'm not completely sold, what will EA take away from the wiki, freedom of speech and fan created fiction. I've always looked to this site as a unbiased opinion about what is going on the the world of Sims and this feels like that would take it away. I'm all for getting more publicity as a site but the has to be a better way. HSS 00:26, January 8, 2013 (UTC)
 * It might be jumping to conclusions to assume what you've stated HSS... I definitely think more investigation of this idea is warranted before we agree to it or disagree to it. --  LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 03:20, January 8, 2013 (UTC)


 * Hi all. Sorry for missing all the excellent discussion here! I completely forgot to check back on this. I just want to follow-up and answer some of your questions and concerns.


 * Regarding Developers becoming admins, limiting what you're allowed to talk about, taking your job, etc. I can assure, we take YOUR ownership over this wiki very seriously. While developers could edit the wiki (they can now in fact, and might, just not as authenticated developers), they would not become admins of the wiki without your approval. They get no special treatment in that regard.


 * Also, we would never allow or engage in critical censorship (except for hate speech and the like that is already described in our ToS). If you dislike an EA practice or game, the blogs and talk pages are and always will be yours. We would never take away that right away from you. The same can be said for Fanon and fan-fiction content. Again, the wiki is and always will belong to you, the wiki community. A closer tie to the developer simply means, potentially, access to exclusive assets, some of their help, Q&As, insider-info, etc. And of course if there is something you would want out of the relationship with EA, that can be addressed as well!


 * Anyway, hopefully that answers a lot of your questions. If you need anything else, just let me know. I'm sure we will update you further if EA remains interested in offering Official Status.


 * Best, Jorge (profile)•(talk) 22:23, January 29, 2013 (UTC)


 * With this reassurance, I am completely in favor of this action - I think it will greatly benefit the general Sims community and do a lot to help our wiki. --  LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 22:49, January 29, 2013 (UTC)
 * I support this as well. 22:52, January 29, 2013 (UTC)
 * With Jorge's reassurance, it sounds like something I can support. Dharden (talk) 01:43, January 30, 2013 (UTC)
 * That seems convincing. I support.  Nikel  Talk  –  Vote!  17:47, January 31, 2013 (UTC)
 * Woah, I totally forgot about this. It's a good thing for the wiki, and I support it.  Vss2eip  talk here  20:26, January 31, 2013 (UTC)
 * Hope I'm not too late for joining in, but here's my vote of approval after reading everything written before: I support this!  ☣  ʀodrigo x (talk)(contribs) 22:15, February 15, 2013 (UTC)
 * Support. -- RoseGui [[File:Thanks rose.png]] ( talk here ) 21:44, March 24, 2013 (UTC)

Anything to help the wiki expand "beyond the horizon", so to speak. I completely support! Ѧüя◎ґ (talk) 01:32, May 17, 2013 (UTC)

Resolution
This matter has been open for discussion for a long time and the consensus is clearly in support of the ideas expressed here. It's worth noting that there are no particular plans currently in the works to implement this decision, so no action is going to be immediately taken in response to this decision. However, this conclusion does allow the community to move forward with any future interactions between EA, Wikia and The Sims Wiki. Thank you everyone for participating! --  LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 00:50, May 18, 2013 (UTC)