Rules and Community Guidelines

==Introduction==
This page lists rules and community guidelines for the VRChat Legends Wiki. When editing or creating an article here you agree to the following.
Articles about characters should focus on subjects related to VRChat or the many different "personas" within the world of VRChat. Keep IRL information short and concise and preferably placed in the trivia section. Avoid personal information like birthdays or identifiable information that could be used for password recovery questions.
This wiki focuses a lot on the roleplaying presence and aspects of the many different roleplaying groups in VRChat. When writing articles related to roleplaying remember to clarify whenever something is either in-character or out-of-character.
The language on the wiki is restricted to English.
===What is a Wiki?===
A wiki is a collaborative evolving document where anyone can contribute. Articles should only document facts, lore and information related to the subject of that article. Writer and reader opinions should be restricted to the comment/talk and discussion sections or fan-fiction.
If you have questions you can leave comments or join our Discord server to chat in real time.
If you want to join the wiki as an editor, keep reading to the bottom of this page!
==Guidelines==
The minimum requirement for posting an article is that it should contain useful information to a reader looking for information about a character or the subject of the article. The article should be related to VRChat culture.
If an article that you created gets deleted this does not mean that it's unwelcome but that you need to improve the writing and submit it again. If it was deleted it did not follow the rules or guidelines. Check your message wall for the reason why it was deleted or ask on Discord.
===The Good===
*Articles should be informational or educational to readers.
*Articles should be written from a neutral point-of-view.
*Articles should treat others with respect and civility.
*Articles should remain factual and be based on publicly known knowledge.
*Articles should clarify when something is RP in-character or out-of-character and not confuse the two.
*Articles about characters should focus on their persona within VRChat, not IRL.
*Articles should strive to try and clarify history (actual events in-game) from background lore (fictional backstory) that did not take place.
**Example: Separate them under different headers in the articles or clarify it in text if possible.
*Articles should be written objectively and unbiased.
**Your own opinions and discussions belongs in the comments/talk section. Not in the article.
*Articles should use the headers from previous articles as a guide for new articles.
*External links should remain relevant to the topic at hand and go more in-depth by adding useful information to the the topic being mentioned.
*Writing on the wiki is considered as a way to gift knowledge to the community collaboratively. You do not get exclusive editing rights for articles to post or delete whatever you want.
===The Bad===
*Articles should not confuse readers. If an article is confusing or contains unreadable garble it will be removed.
*Articles should not contain plain advertisement or bragging with just contact info or an unexplained image.
*Articles should not be created only for the sole purpose bragging or promoting yourself.
**The wiki is not a personal blog or website to be used as social media.
**For personal information please use sites like Blogger or Wordpress.
**Linking to offensive, improper or questionable websites is not allowed.
**The wiki is not a graffiti board, please contribute with actual useful information.
*Articles should not be created with the intent to 'troll' or 'meme' readers.
**There are many other places for memes or so called "shitposting" but this wiki is not it.
*Articles should not contain random images without explanations. These will be removed.
*Articles should not contain personal IRL information aside from small trivia that may be relevant.
**The wiki is not a gossip tabloid, if something makes the person that the article is about uncomfortable avoid documenting it on the wiki.
*External links to other Wikis shouldn't be used as a way to try and escape moderation from the admins of this wiki. Those will be removed.
*Writing about players personal lives such as IRL health issues. These things are private and have no place on the wiki unless they are public statements made by a public figure such as a streamer or are relevant in for example a fundraising event or similar.
*Avoid slanderous or accusatory language aimed towards players, this applies even if you happen to be writing about yourself.
==Rules==
These lists the rules you MUST adhere to when writing on this wiki. If a conflict occurs that you want to resolve please contact an admin by posting on their message wall or (head historians) on Discord.
*Articles and comments need to follow Fandom/Wikias rules and community guidelines.
*Articles and comments are not allowed to contain anything illegal, offensive or improper language like racism or have the intent to insult other people.
**Language and images needs to be somewhat family friendly (think Teen-PG rating).
**If something can be thought of as offensive or sensitive use abstract language or euphemisms.
**Degrading names or racism are not allowed and will be removed or censored.
*No disturbing imagery or pornographic content in the form of explicitly describing sexual acts images or screenshots of sexual acts.
**Think "Twitch/YouTube Friendly" as a good baseline.
**If it's not allowed by VRChat rules, assume that it shouldn't be posted on the wiki.
**If you have to - use euphemisms to describe sexual acts in a non-sexual manner.
*Articles must respect the privacy of the real people who portrays the personas and characters.
**Do not post IRL / out-of-character information that make people uncomfortable.
**Do not post personal information like birthdays or similar that could be used by password recovery questions.
**Writing defamation, slander or making posts with ill intent is strictly not allowed.
**Threatening or encouraging behavior such as disclosure of personal information i.e. "doxxing" is strictly not allowed.
*Do not post IRL images or photos, especially not of the people portraying characters.
**To get an exception to this rule get written permission from the person that the photo portrays and inform the moderators.
**For example the photos of Nagzz and StealthRG are exceptions and have their permissions.
*IRL conflicts have no place being documented on the wiki.
**In-character conflicts from roleplaying are fine.
**Opinions should be restricted to the talk/comment section.
*Short comments that assist in collaboration between wiki writers are fine when articles are under construction.
**Make it very clear when something is an editors comment.
**Example: WIKI: Please add more info about X here!
**You can also use the editors note template.
*Don't edit other writers user-pages without their permission unless they expect you to do so.
*Do not pretend to be other people or portray someone else unless it is clarified as roleplay.
**Falsely impersonating or stealing the identity of another VRChat player on the wiki is not allowed.
**If you're portraying a parody of said person make this clear.
*Articles should not encourage "hacking" the VRChat game client or encourage activities like "crashing" other players. Players or gangs engaging in such activities are not welcome.
**Main article: Wiki Policy on Hacking
==Neutrality and free speech==
Articles should be written from a neutral point-of-view, strive to remain unbiased and opinions limited to the comment section or when it's about roleplaying characters - remain in-character.
We encourage free speech to a degree but the focus of this wiki is documenting lore about the in-game characters and VRChat culture, not any possible drama surrounding the people who portray them unless the admins make a special ruling on such.
Criticism should be kept constructive and we don't permit hate speech. Hate speech refers to content that promotes violence against or has the primary purpose of inciting hatred against individuals or groups based on certain attributes.
A strong driver for judgement is based in the context that content is used.
===Hate speech and roleplay===
Some forms of roleplay can be interpreted as hate speech especially when portraying a villain, a bad guy or for example an antagonist committing crimes - if this is the case - we would ask that you make it clear in the article to be roleplay. If a topic could be deemed as sensitive it should be clarified to be RP, not give an unfair image of the people who portray the characters or confused with their real world views.
This can be done with a notice in your page or clarification by using the {{RPBTW}} template.
Whether iconography that could be associated with a philosophy of hate, racism, murder etc is allowed depends on the context of its usage. Further info below:
===Third Reich imagery===
If your character or group contains Third Reich imagery, memorabilia or Nazism glorification or related imagery, or similar your article must add the notice {{ThirdReichImageryNotice}} at the top of the article. This helps clarify that it is a roleplay-only attitude and characters are "acting out a fictional role" or "re-enacting".
The use of Nazi salutes and Swastikas are highly discouraged.
Some explicit imagery is not allowed such as:
*Propaganda promoting a real historical group rather than fictional ones.
**Propaganda inspired by the design of a historical piece is fine, but not using the original ones.
*Glorification of real events.
*Graphically violent or disgusting or disturbing imagery for example guts, soggy bread, torture or malnourished bodies.
===Special cases===
The final word rests with the wiki admins (head historians) who will determine what is allowed and what is not allowed.
==Article writing policy==
===Jokes===
Jokes and quirks may refer to inside-jokes related to the portrayed subject of an article that are established in a roleplayer's or streamers community like their chat or Discord.
*Jokes should primarily be placed in the trivia section and clarified to new readers.
*Remember to explain inside-jokes so that new readers without pre-existing knowledge can get a basic understanding of them.
*Writers should avoid making up their own jokes unless those jokes are already established in the community.
===Moderation and blocking===
If you discover something that is clearly wrong or breaking rules, revert/remove it yourself and if necessary discuss it further by posting on the authors message wall.
*Make sure to report writers who are acting in bad faith to the moderators (historians), admins (head historians) or on Discord so that they can investigate.
*Articles containing violations will be censored and have bad parts removed.
*Articles completely breaking guidelines or rules will be marked for deletion or removed directly.
*If a mistake is made you will be issued a warning. Outright ill intending users will be blocked.
*Repeat offenders are blocked.
===Deletions===
Edits that violate the rules such as vandalism, privacy violations, slander etc are removed from articles.
*Deletion requests where there are no violations of any rules are handled on a case-by-case basis and discussed among active editors before being removed.
*Historical value is of importance when judging potential deletions. Keep in mind that you don't need permission to write about someone else and players do not get exclusive editing rights to articles about them.
*Please respect copyright and always ask permission from artists before posting their artwork!
**If someone posted your artwork or your photo without your permission please notify a content moderator so that they can delete it.
*IRL photos without permission from who they depict are deleted.
*If an article remains more or less empty without any contribution made in over week it will generally be considered abandoned and deleted.
*Articles that are blanketed without any valid explanation are reverted. Always explain your motivation why an article should be emptied in the "describe what you changed" field.
==Classification==
===Canon Lore===
In fiction, 'canon lore' is the material accepted as officially part of the story in the fictional universe of that story. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan-fiction.
The author of 'canon lore' is the content creator or roleplayer who portrays the character or constructs the roleplaying world and setting. NOT wiki writers.
*Write from the perspective point-of-view (POV) of the subject/character/group that the article belongs to.
**The RP-groups and roleplayers themselves are in charge of deciding what is "canon" for their group.
**Sometimes stories or story arcs diverge or get confusing, in that case it might make more sense to describe it from an out-of-character or a viewers perspective.
**Respect that the different roleplaying groups have their own lore set in their own separate small universes.
*Conflicting lore between different characters or different RP groups can occur. This is fine. Keep diverging stories limited to the article that it belongs to.
*If a large story arc is resets (a.k.a retconned) and all the lore in a past article is changed save it for archival purposes, don't delete it.
**Create a new article for the new lore and link to the old article.
**Clarify when something has been retconned at the beginning of the article.
*If you're uncertain if something is considered canon, clarify it or ask the roleplayers themselves. If they're in the Wiki Discord you can @ them in the #lore_discussion channel.
*Wiki writers who are not part of a certain roleplaying group should not attempt to "write themselves in" or "make up new content" without actually being in charge of the groups lore. Respect the game masters, dungeon masters and hosts of their respective groups.
===Fan-fiction===
Fan-fiction is lore that is not established or accepted by the authors of the fiction. Fan-fiction should be placed in separate articles and marked with the fan-fiction notice.
*Wiki writers should not invent new lore or attempt to "write themselves into the lore" in canon articles belonging to other players. If you wish to write about someone else in that way flag it as fan fiction.
*If a writer is also part of an RP group and inventing new lore make sure that you have permission to do so.
*Separate backstory from actual events that take place in-game.
===Opinion pieces===
Opinion pieces are articles that reflect personal views of a person or player, for example:
*Reviews
*Guides
*Maps ratings
*News or newspapers
As such additional editors should respect the original authors views and only correct typos, supply additional information and similar. If there are sources from elsewhere for example a blog, website or similar try to add references.
:Further information: Opinion pieces
==Do you want to contribute to the wiki?==
Anyone can join us in contributing to the Wiki! To edit, you need to register a Wikia account.
All we ask is that you follow our rules, community guidelines and general Wiki decency. Keep the established standard by looking at previous articles. If you feel uncertain you can always ask other editors. Remember that Wikis are evolving documents and a collaborative effort of multiple people. Wikis are not personal websites or blogs.
If you're completely new to editing Wikis don't hesitate to ask for help on editors message walls or on Discord.
===Protected articles===
Some articles are locked in order to protect from vandalism. To edit protected articles you need content moderator permissions. To get moderator permissions please join our Discord channel and introduce yourself.
===Writing an article for your own character===
Writing a wiki article for your own character is fine but there are some things that you should keep in mind.
*Writing your own character can be a conflict-of-interest depending on the context. Please write from a neutral and unbiased point-of-view.
**Pure bragging or advertising is not allowed.
*When writing a backstory make sure to clarify that it's a "backstory" or "lore" and not actual in-game events.
*When documenting from an out-of-character perspective don't write things that are untrue.
*When involving other players characters in your backstory make sure that you have their permission to do so.
**If you make up events involving other players without their permission you have to flag it as fan-fiction.
*Portraying a character that is the subject of an article does not give you exclusive editing rights to that article.
**Keep in mind that other wiki editors can edit your article.
**If you want exclusive rights it's better to create a blog or website.
*If you notice someone doing false edits, trolling or harassment to your article please contact a content moderator or admin on their message wall or on Discord so that they can increase the protection of the article or block the offender.
==Sources and References==
Citing sources similar to Wikipedia is encouraged and appreciated but documenting events that occur during livestreams or direct accounts from players like roleplay sometimes makes this difficult.
*If something is written on the wiki, that does not make it true. Remain skeptical as the wiki is a constantly evolving and living document.
*If someone disputes your edits try to find reliable sources that you can reference to backup your writings.
*If you discover something that is clearly wrong, revert/remove it and discuss it further on the authors message wall or in Discord.
*When documenting historical events try to add the date of the day for which the event took place.
**Example: On Aug 22nd 2018 this and that happened.
*If you lack enough knowledge to explain or recall something, avoid writing about it. If you don't watch enough or follow a certain stream, ask people who do on Discord. Someone else might be able to provide more information.
*To cite a source add a link in the ref tag Example: <ref>https://www.google.com</ref>
*To add a reference section to a wiki add the following to the source at the end of the article: {{References}}
==Writing Standards==
Articles should separate each change of subject by a paragraph and preferably add dates when describing historical events.
Avoid mixing too many different topics or creating articles that become large. If an article becomes too long it may be better to split it into multiple smaller articles and link to each one from the main article.
Articles that are too long or confusingly written may require a :Template:Cleanup. See more information in the template.
===Wiki Categories===
Before adding a new category or restructuring categories - please discuss it with the wiki admins. In general the number of articles with shared traits that are useful for readers to look up determines when its time to create a new category.
As a ground rule have at least 3 or more articles sharing things like unique species, player lore, fantasy races, special RP group lore or type events before creating a new category or sub-category.
The following list attempts to explain the different categories:
*Under construction - Add to articles that are not completed. This category can be removed once an article appears somewhat completed.
*:Category:Characters - A character portrayed by a player.
*:Category:People - The main character closest related to a person who portrays that character. Articles can have both :Category:People and :Category:Characters but only the persons main-character (player in-game name) should have the People category.
*:Category:Groups - Groups of people who play together.
*:Category:RP Groups - Groups that focus on the roleplaying aspect of the game.
*:Category:Unintroduced - A character that has not been portrayed by a player in-game in VRChat yet or is a work in progress.
*:Category:Worlds - A world in VRChat
*:Category:Locations - A location of note in VRChat, a world can have multiple locations.
*:Category:Off-topic - Add this category if you're uncertain if an article has anything directly to do with VRChat. If it's too out of place it may be deleted by the admins in the future.
*:Category:Cleanup - Articles that are too long or require a cleanup of some kind.
===Wiki Infoboxes===
The following infobox templates are intended to be used in articles. Infoboxes should be the same across the whole wiki for a standardized and uniform look. If there is a need for new infoboxes or changes done in these please discuss it with the admins before creating a new one.
*:Template:Infobox character - Infobox for characters
*:Template:Infobox location - Infobox for maps/locations
*:Template:Infobox organization - Infobox for organizations or groups
*:Template:Infobox events - Infobox for documented events
*:Template:Infobox item
*:Template:Infobox book
==Templates==
===Character template===
The following is quick and basic example description of the default header structure used in most character articles. The article for Gregarious Talon Rook is an example of a very large article.
*Blurb with a short introduction about the character including an out-of-character description and explanation if needed.
*Lore - Background history and lore, this can be completely fictitious.
*History - History of events they have participated in.
**Separate notable events or things described in details with sub-headers.
*Biography - Optional info about them as a person or separate character info like personality etc.
*Traits - This only applies for some roleplaying groups.
*Powers and abilities - This only applies for some roleplaying groups.
*Alternate roleplaying personas/characters
**List the various other characters that the player portrays. Only include this in their main article.
*Trivia - Interesting facts, community jokes or interesting non-personal IRL information that is relevant.
*Links - Links to Twitch, Website, YouTube or Social media
**Social Links - Sub-header if necessary
**Videos - YouTube videos, streams, highlights if necessary
**Twitch Clips - Twitch Clips if necessary
*Gallery - In-game screenshots or artwork
**Screenshot gallery - Screenshots
**Artwork gallery - Artwork/ fan-art images
===Useful Wiki templates===
Category:Browse
Category:Wiki
Category:Information