User blog:LostInRiverview/TSW and the MST3k Mantra

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The Sims Wiki is an encyclopedia about a video game - that in itself makes most of what we talk and write about here a pretty niche topic. The average "person on the street" simply isn't going to care about most of what is talked about here. And that's okay. The Sims Wiki doesn't exist to be the ultimate source of all knowledge in the universe, and anyone visiting The Sims Wiki to find out about non-Sims information is "barking up the wrong tree" to begin with. It's okay that our wiki gets into the details about The Sims games and the worlds, characters, objects and features that comprise them. Certainly most of the information on the wiki may be useful to some people at some point as they play the games, otherwise there would be no purpose in the wiki existing at all.

However, there are some game-related details that are too trivial to worry much about, even within a niche setting like The Sims Wiki. Including information for the sake of being informative is a great quality, but there is such a thing as being too detailed, especially about things that don't really impact the vast majority of Sims players in any meaningful way.

But, you might be thinking to yourself, "What is the harm in including this information anyways, no matter how trivial it might seem?" The truth is, there is no specific harm in including it. But, as strange as it sounds, in my experience on The Sims Wiki, some of the most extensive arguments on the wiki have revolved around incredibly minor details that don't really matter in the greater scheme of things. You know, issues like the color of Boyd Wainwright's hair. Sure, the issue might be worthy of discussion, but it's nowhere near significant enough to risk getting wiki-blocked over.

When wiki discussions devolve into wiki arguments regarding ultimately unimportant trivia, I think it would be best for us all to remember a line from the theme song to the TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3k):

Repeat to yourself, "It's just a show. I should really just relax."

This doesn't mean that any information is inherently too trivial to include on this wiki. The wiki is, after all, already about a niche topic, and I think it would be wrong for us to arbitrarily draw a line saying which information was or was not worthy of inclusion. But, when you're including this information, don't get bent out of shape if someone disagrees with your interpretation, or if there is a discussion into the matter that doesn't go your way. Just repeat to yourself, "It's just a game. I should really just relax."

See also[edit source]

-- LostInRiverview talk · blog · contribs 04:45, March 6, 2018 (UTC)

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