Talk:Multiverse unofficial reading guide
A few things That I was thinking about in regards to this page, and how it extends to the rest of the wiki:
1> Now that the reading list has links to /r/nosleep, /r/m59gar, /r/libraryofshadows, and Amazon, there may be room for discussion about collecting the freely published works into one repository. This way the stories can be safe in one place, with no worries of removal for any reason (such as Matt's Crushing Fist and Armentitron's Dreams of Inner R'lyeh, both of which were removed from NoSleep), and added convenience.
2> Are there any non-Matt authors that haven't been accounted for in the Optional Extras section? Are the ones that are added to this page explicitly canon, and if so, should there be a section/page for non-canon stories (fanfic, so to speak)?
3> The Moon Aflame has three extra chapters in the print version that ties in very nicely to the next few stories, and Matt has stated explicitly that he'll be heavily editing and adding to future print versions (Source). I wouldn't want to put spoilers on the wiki for content that isn't released free online, but some references and future changes could affect the information given here. How should that be approached?
~Erich t/c 20:22, 31 October 2015 (UTC)
1> Agreed, the potential for the loss of the stories due to the whims of others on reddit is a bit of a worry. The safest option really is for them to be on /r/m59gar where Matt has the control to ensure they stay online in the form he chooses. As for future arrangements, we'll need to wait and see where this all goes. I'm more than happy to open up this server for hosting more, but converting reddit formatted content to mediawiki can be a bit painful.
2> I believe there are a few, mostly from /r/m59gar where a number of people have posted related (or at least partially related stories). I usually put the user contributed entries into the optional extras section as they have no confirmed status as canon or non-canon, and the primary storylines Matt has been publishing generally don't rely on them for story progression. I'm more than happy to have both canon and non-canon user contributed stories listed, but as to defining them explicitly as canon or non canon, that would be something I'd prefer to leave to Matt to decide. The optional extras section is getting quite large now, so eventually we might want to look at moving it to its own specific page, where we can split up what is and isn't canon.
3> This is a tough one to address. I don't want to detract or take away from the additional content in the published versions, but on the other hand the aim is to try and keep things mostly as accurate as possible. Its a delicate balance, so I suspect the best option for now is to work based on what information we have. Where there are large spoilers or similar that only exist in the published editions, we simply remove the conflicting information from the wiki and write around it. I think non-critical information being on the wiki shouldn't be an issue. The wiki is a useful resource for new readers or those who want to see where links between the stories exist (and how they link), but in no way is it meant to compete with or be a replacement for any of the actual stories themselves.
--Heath (talk) 12:07, 5 November 2015 (UTC)
Regarding point 2 above, I checked with Matt regarding this, and we can sum it up as essentially this: User contributions are non-canon, until/unless they are merged in with what he writes, upon which we can call them explicitly canon. One of the great things about the Multiverse is that literally anything is possible!
I'm thinking we might want to start building up a section for non-canon entities, realities and the like, linked from the main page where everything is currently. That way we can merge content from other non-canon entries within the canon entries, without things becoming too confusing (hopefully) and simply move them across should they end up becoming canon. I'm more than happy to have user contributed content included (the more the merrier IMO), so long as it can't be confused with Matt's stories.
