User talk:Alan De Smet/Archive1

Linkspam question
Hi. I've seen the edit "Remove linkspam to awards metasite", RE:	users.rcn.com/aardy/comics/awards/index.html (Comic Book Awards Almanac). I'd be glad to help get rid of unwanted links, especially in the comic book entries where I usually edit. Can you give me brief b'ground on what's up with that site and why we're removing it, or point me to the "linkspam" portion of the voluminous Wiki how-to pages? (I suspect sites that just link to other sites is the problem; it'd make more sense just to link to the specific site cited). Thanks! -- Tenebrae 05:13, 3 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Responded on User talk:Tenebrae Alan De Smet | Talk 05:55, 27 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Thanks, Alan! Yeah, I wandered into a page just today that had a whole discussion with Badbilltucker, and he seemed like an innocent sort who (like I, certainly, at times have done inadvertantly) made a Wikikette mistake. I don't know if he's been removing them, but I've done so when I see them ... and also the Squiddy Awards and nominations, on which there was a discussion at the WikiProject: Comics. Thank you so much for giving me such a thorough answer and polite response! I like the "Responded" to tag above, btw. It there a template for that, or is it something you came up with yourself? Would you mind if I started using that sort of tag? If it's like a personal-signature thing, I understand and won't cop it. Either way, that seems like such a smart idea. Thanks again - Tenebrae 06:28, 27 January 2006 (UTC)


 * It's not a template, I just typed it by hand. If you like it, please feel free to use and abuse it.  I'm all behind the "All contributions are GFDL", I fully expect and desire for people to reuse my Wikipedia word. Alan De Smet | Talk 22:11, 13 February 2006 (UTC)

Insert non-formatted text here

Guardians of Order
I've moved the comments posted here to Talk:Guardians of Order, as they are of general interest. I do "watch" Talk:Guardians of Order, so I'll see comments there. Alan De Smet | Talk 22:09, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

thedoteaters.com
You're right, the thedoteaters.com change was needed. At first glance, 70.52.234.11 seemed to be link-spamming (appeared to be adding links indescriminately without careful regard for whether they're useful for the encyclopedia. We get a lot of external-link spam from IP's who don't use any edit summaries and seem to go through pages very quickly)...  In many cases though, the user fixed links rather than adding them, and in this case the changes were obviously desired. I've gone back and reverted myself in all cases where the link was pre-existing. (further, the site is a good one, and some of the link additions were probably useful... if 70.52.234.11 was connected to the site, then I'm happy if others review the links and revert me where they're clearly useful) Thanks for letting me know so I could fix this. --Interiot 01:37, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

Stub Rating
Currently I'm going through the 6000 some-odd articles that are part of the CVG project but not rated, and slapping a rating on them. As such, I'm spending maybe 5 seconds per article, so most of my consideration is based off of length, with only possible "B" class or higher candidates getting looked at more. While I rated Anchorhead as a Stub at first glimpse, that was only due to it's length. On a closer inspection, the intro length and comprehension lends it to a Start rating. The plot section is short, but it is comprehensive, so all around it's a start class article, if on the shorter side. I'm changing the rating, but if you couldn't tell, the entire thing is subjective. If you disagree with a rating on any article that you see, feel free to change it. Only GA and FA class articles have to be reviewed to get the rating, and A class articles are rare enough that they're fairly obvious. I personally don't rate importance on articles- I feel that it's even more subjective than class ratings, and has no real purpose, other than the "Top" rating. If, as you say, Anchorhead is an important game within IF, then yes, I'd give it a Low. I hope that this answers any questions that you have. I'd also invite you to join the Computer and Video Games Wikiproject - the guys behind that rating box on the page. --PresN 15:04, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

Gen Con/Midi-Maze
No problem on the edits Alan, and thanks for the thanks. I actually own the original Midi-Maze collection now. After what was left of the original group (Milatari) displayed it at the 2003 Midwest Gaming Classic, they decided to dump the collection (as its now a PC group and they just didn't see the value of hanging on to it). So I offered to take it, and currently have it stored with the rest of my collection. It'll probably return again next year in the MGC museum area. --Marty Goldberg 22:58, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

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Thanks for letting me know
And you beat me to it, I was going to put a comment in too :) --âªfroth T C  04:43, 3 January 2007 (UTC)

Deleting links to Guardians of Order Fan Forums
Why am I deleting links to the "Guardians of Order Fan Forums"? Want to discuss it? See User talk:Alan De Smet/GoOFF. âThe preceding unsigned comment was added by Alan De Smet (talk â¢ contribs).

Meddling with Dementation's user page
Hi, thanks for your message... yeah I know I shouldn't have over-reacted (or even reacted) to his personal attack - I blame a combination of jetlag and coffee for that, I think I reverted his talk page first (see reasoning there) and then got carried away :) Yeah basically he doesn't sem too keen to (ever) come back to Wikipedia, at least under that alias, maybe we could place a speedy on his userpage so a sysop can delete his account? Otherwise we'd have to re-insert all the warnings in case he did come back and resume editing. Sfacets 04:45, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Your edits to NASCRAG
Thank you for contributing to Wikipedia, Alan De Smet! However, your edit here was reverted by an automated bot that attempts to remove spam from Wikipedia. If you were trying to insert a good link, please accept my creator's apologies, but please note that the link you added in is on my spam blacklist and should not be included in Wikipedia. Please read Wikipedia's external links policy for more information. If the link was to an Imageshack or Photobucket image, please read Wikipedia's image tutorial on how to use a more appropriate method to insert the image into an article. If your link was genuine spam, please note that inserting spam into Wikipedia is against policy. For more information about me, see my FAQ page. Thanks! Shadowbot 02:47, 28 January 2007 (UTC)
 * I have replied on my talk page. Cheers! (You could always upload the image as a Fair use image at the very least.) Please reply back on my talk page. ââ Eagle 101 (Need help?) 03:19, 28 January 2007 (UTC)
 * I replied again. Cheers! ââ Eagle 101 (Need help?) 03:34, 28 January 2007 (UTC)
 * I replied agian :D ââ Eagle 101 (Need help?) 04:42, 28 January 2007 (UTC)
 * I have replied again :D âThe preceding unsigned comment was added by Eagle 101 (talk â¢ contribs) 05:06, 28 January 2007 (UTC).
 * And agian :P ââ Eagle 101 (Need help?) 05:33, 28 January 2007 (UTC) (can't believe I forgot to sign above :D) Cheers!

Thanks for letting me know about your concerns. I'm planning on revising its warnings soon, and I'll take your comment into consideration. Shadow1 (talk) 13:10, 28 January 2007 (UTC)

Spam warning from Shadowbot
Please stop adding inappropriate links to Wikipedia. It is considered spamming and will be removed. Thanks. Shadowbot 02:54, 30 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Incorrect judgement on Shadowbot's part. â Alan De Smet | Talk 05:39, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

Re: BJBot suggestion: merge multiple notices
It is a good idea and I could do it but I think it is unnecessary because it is running on large backlogs at the moment, soon it will be running weekly or daily so it will not be spamming warnings as it is now. BJ Talk 05:28, 30 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Above is in reply to this message I posted. â Alan De Smet | Talk 05:58, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

Re: Dave Arneson badly needs citations. Can you help?
[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Mrwojo&diff=104774087&oldid=75341090 Re: Dave Arneson badly needs citations. Can you help?]''

I've added some references to Dave Arneson as requested. The interviews I added as external links in my 2004 edit were actually my sources. It looks like my remaining source went 404. It might be in EN World's "interviews" section, which is behind a login. That interview might be the source of the "unsung legend" quote (an actual quote, I remember googling for "unsung hero" but found legend). --Mrwojo 06:58, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

Notes, References and Sources
Hi Alan. I and going to reverse the changes you made to these headings on Dungeons & Dragons in order to comply with the recommendations of Guide_to_layout. I kind of understand where you are coming from, but want this to comply with the standards of Wikipedia. Thanks for your support for the large amount of edits I have been doing on D&D lately. - Waza 05:40, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

mafiascum.net creation date
Hi Alan, thanks for your comment. I am the owner of mafiascum.net, and so obviously I know what the date was; hadn't realized that would need a citation. Will something like the memberlist do? --194.81.199.53 12:24, 28 February 2007 (UTC)
 * I've added a citation to the history page on mafiascum.net's wiki (and also registered on wikipedia, finally). --Mithscum 15:45, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Permanent death
I have added a "" template to the article Permanent death, suggesting that it be deleted according to the proposed deletion process. All contributions are appreciated, but I don't believe it satisfies Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion, and I've explained why in the deletion notice (see also "What Wikipedia is not" and Wikipedia's deletion policy). You may contest the proposed deletion by removing the  notice, but please explain why you disagree with the proposed deletion in your edit summary or on its talk page. Also, please consider improving the article to address the issues raised. Even though removing the deletion notice will prevent deletion through the proposed deletion process, the article may still be deleted if it matches any of the speedy deletion criteria or it can be sent to Articles for Deletion, where it may be deleted if consensus to delete is reached. 132.161.187.62 10:12, 1 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Discussion moved to here â Alan De Smet | Talk 02:48, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

about "Eat Poop You Cat" page
Hi Alan - I noticed that there is now a second link to an online version of the game, so I figured I'd make the distinction that thesentencegame.com is the original online version of the game. This is substantiated by the dates that each site went public. No big deal, but I was surprised that you decided to revert the change. I'd be happy to discuss it though. âThe preceding unsigned comment was added by 216.169.166.235 (talk â¢ contribs).
 * Discussion moved here â Alan De Smet | Talk 05:54, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Elfish Gene on Dungeons & Dragons
Alan Re: Elfish Gene. The book's out right now - available on Amazon.co.uk. It offers a look at the culture of early D&D and shows what it's actually like to play the game - Houndstooth. âThe preceding unsigned comment was added by Houndstoothuk (talk â¢ contribs).
 * I've copied Houndstoothuk's post over to Talk:Dungeons & Dragons as that's the more appropriate place to discuss it. My response will be there. â Alan De Smet | Talk 00:35, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

Planetfall (movie)
Thanks for the clean-up and adds on the Planetfall (Movie) page. FYI-I actually wrote the summary that was included orginally. âThe preceding unsigned comment was added by 64.122.224.2 (talk â¢ contribs).

Non-free use disputed for Image:Infocom logo.png
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Sex
Could you please just tell me what you have to say about the reasons for having the sex section in the Infocom article? âThe preceding unsigned comment was added by 124.176.134.126 (talk) 08:45, 2 April 2007 (UTC).
 * Author has been repeatedly responded to. I see nothing more to add. Further discussion should remain on Talk:Infocom. â Alan De Smet | Talk 00:13, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

AWplanet
Alan,

1) game is not support - PDAs and mobile phones. Please remove. 2) Why did you remove additional information? There is no conflict with terms.

AWplanet Addministration (eugene@awplanet.com). âThe preceding unsigned comment was added by 62.64.83.102 (talk â¢ contribs).
 * Response put at Talk:AWplanet â Alan De Smet | Talk 04:45, 7 April 2007 (UTC)

Magic: The Gathering Image
You recently edited an image tag in the Magic: The Gathering article, saying there was no evidence that it was used with permission. In case you hadn't noticed earlier the discussion Talk:Magic: The Gathering/Archive3, one of our fellow editors obtained permission from Wizards of the Coast to use up to 24 card images in the article. I didn't change it back, since the image itself doesn't seem to reflect this, but I just thought I would point that out. --Temporarily Insane (talk) 03:40, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

Mafia (game)
See my comments in the discussion part on what was wrong with the old ratio section, and rationale for my changes.

Also note that a three player game (in contrast to what the previous section says and what the box says) DOES work, and actually is no worse than a four player game (the mafia player can just kill a random player at night, that doesn't give the others any information, just like the kill in the first night never gives much useful information!)

You also completely dropped my changes on how to play without a kill in the first night and without a narrator, which totally wastes two players. They never have any action they could do, they can't even say a word, they are just dead right from the beginning. It's much nicer if everybody is still alive and in game during the first day, and it suffices to have a narrator in the second night. 87.174.119.241 12:45, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

Graphs
Thanks for offering to convert my graphs - I will send you the data in excel documents via e-mail by Wednesday. Regards,  Signature brendel  00:08, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

SVG versions of your WotC rarity icons
thw new images are awesome and much better then the old ones. âThe preceding unsigned comment was added by Dm2ortiz (talk â¢ contribs).

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Call to arms
user Pak21 who doesn’t play DDM is trying remove all the images there. Now he has two of his mates who don’t play DDM helping him. Add your voice at Fair use review ~LG~

I work at a company with over a 100 employees most of use Wiki but many of us want to remain anonymous because of “Wiki Cyber stalkers” as we call them. You know the users the say they want “engage discussion” but if you disagree they will hunt you all over wikiapeda trying to "bate you". So they can get you banned. We have a list of 23 of them. Pak21 is on are list. watch he will respond to this, he is hunting me and knows I am talking to you. And now he will watch you too if he is not all ready. ~LG~ 74.7.53.146 16:17, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

"rv canvassing"
Okay. Now that I realise it, the WP:CANVAS policy is unclear on that specific type of canvassing (i.e. biased message sent to few editors). However, it is your user talk page. Bart133 (t) (c) 03:43, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

Link in Cerebus article
Thanks for catching that...the link was active the last time I checked it, but that was several months ago. Willbyr (talk | contribs) 04:09, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

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Image:Anthrocon 2007 Mark Evanier and Carolyn Kelly supersponsor lunch.jpg
Nice photo, thanks for contributing it! It's nice to have a much more recent shot of Evanier, especially in light of his weight loss. — Alan De Smet | Talk 02:45, 17 July 2007 (UTC)


 * You're welcome. I happen to have another, which I uploaded at Image:Anthrocon_2007_Mark_Evanier_supersponsor_lunch.jpg in case you find it more useful. GreenReaper 03:05, 17 July 2007 (UTC)

Question
If you know DynSkeet in real life, could you please tell him (in real life, of course) to come back to Wikipedia? 124.181.253.139 04:48, 17 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I have no idea who DynSkeet is, so regrettably I will be unable to do so. — Alan De Smet | Talk 00:12, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Mafiascum game total
Hi Alan. I'm a little confused by your request for a citation on the number of completed games at mafiascum.net in the External Links section of Mafia (game). Our no original research policy states, "An article or section of an article that relies on a primary source should (1) only make descriptive claims, the accuracy of which is easily verifiable by any reasonable, educated person without specialist knowledge, and (2) make no analytic, synthetic, interpretive, explanatory, or evaluative claims." Unless counting threads counts as analysis, this seems like a descriptive, uncontested claim, verifiable by anyone without specialized knowledge. Feel free to respond here or at my actual talk page (IP talk page is less ideal, since notifications are screwed up due to work's proxy). -- nae'blis 21:07, 24 July 2007 (UTC) (not logged in at present)


 * I'm looking for a summary of some sort. I find it highly unlikely that someone has actually checked the 1,400+ threads at Mafiascum and confirmed that they are each games, and that each was completed.  I suspect that the claim "over 1000 completed games" is an estimate.  If it's an estimate, I want to know who is making the claim, and on what basis.  If it's accurate, I'd like to know how I can validate that the claim is correct.  I agree that counting threads isn't original research, but I don't counting threads as useful, since any given thread may not represent a completed game, and it may not represent a game at all. — Alan De Smet | Talk 22:54, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for all the Dungeons & Dragons work

 * (Copied from User_talk:RJHall by RJHall)
 * Thanks for all the work on Dungeons & Dragons and your efforts to make it a Featured Article! — Alan De Smet | Talk 22:33, 12 August 2007 (UTC)

Thank you as well. I appreciate all of your ongoing efforts on this article. &mdash; RJH (talk) 22:43, 12 August 2007 (UTC)

Accidental damage to Dungeons & Dragons
In this edit to Dungeons & Dragons you did a bunch of apparently minor edits. In those changes you changed dates in the form 2007-03-15 to 2007–03–15 (that is, from using a hyphen to using an en-dash). Unfortunately the places you changed them were mostly inside the accessdate argument to Template:cite web. That template processes the date and reformats it. However, it can't cope with en-dashes. So your seemingly harmless edit changed this to this. Just something to keep in mind for the future. — Alan De Smet | Talk 04:29, 14 September 2007 (UTC)
 * I used wikiEd to clean up the code. Apparently the Fix Dashes button has a bug in the code that converted that to –. I'm sorry about the change to the dashes. -- Andrew Hampe Talk 17:00, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

D&D cartoon character names in italics?

 * In this edit to Dungeons & Dragons related products you italicized the names of the characters in the D&D cartoon. Any particular reason?  It seems strange, and I'm prone to remove the italics, but I want to check your reasoning first. — Alan De Smet | Talk 03:32, 18 September 2007 (UTC)

I removed the italics after checking the MoS. Thanks. &mdash; RJH (talk) 15:04, 18 September 2007 (UTC)

"Thumb and sizes"
In your edit comment to Jack the Ripper you wrote: "Thumb and sizes appear to be incompatible." They certainly are not. The "thumb" code gives it the standard frame and knows that the size is going to be smaller than the full res version, and then setting a size is to make it not so incredibly tiny on the page, as the "thumb" default size setting is set way too small for an useful images intended to be anything more than a series of postage stamps. 13:35, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

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