User talk:Rpbtz

Please note that I will only reply to messages below them on this talk page.

Video game vinyl soundtrack expansions
Hi Rpbtz! I've been noticing the good work you and Sortiz88 have been putting into the list of video game soundtracks released on vinyl. Carefully researched information added by knowledgeable contributors is as good as it gets at Wikipedia so your efforts are greatly appreciated. The list had kind of narrowly avoided a deletion request back in 2014 and I have been curating the page since then in an effort to ensure that it avoids another such request. Part of ensuring that the list is able to function as a stand-alone article is the crafting of a well-sourced lede section that establishes the notability of the topic and lays out the inclusion criteria for the list. I've made some efforts to provide this and I would argue that this aspect of the list is relatively safe now, but it could always be improved and as you seem to have some expertise in the topic I was hoping I could prevail on you to help me locate any reliably sourced articles that treat the topic of "video game soundtracks released on vinyl" in a generalized manner. No need to go on a research mission or anything, but if you happen to see such an article then please drop a note here or add the info to the list article directly.

I'm not sure how familiar you are with Wikipedia's sourcing requirements and what constitutes a "Reliable Source", but so far your sources (e.g. IGN and Engadget) have been quite good. For this topic a quick-and-dirty guide and checklist can be found at WP:VG/RS along with a link to our "Reliable Source Search Engines". Sources listed there (along with traditional reliable sources like books, periodicals, and others mentioned at WP:RS) should make up the bulk of the sources for the list. I gather that you are the owner of both the Discogs list and the BlipBlop.net website, so I wanted to address those specifically. Discogs is not a reliable source at Wikipedia. Personally I love it, but the subs there represent user-generated content so it is on the same level as Wikipedia when it comes to reliability, and generally that's considered to be too unreliable... BlipBlop.net would most likely be considered a self-published source here at Wikipedia and in general the suggestion is to avoid using such a source except as a source on itself (e.g. if we had a Wikipedia article on BlipBlop.net itself). I think it's a fantastic resource and I'm in no rush to remove it from Wikipedia but you should be aware that there are some who would object to its use as a source (most likely under a claim that it fails WP:RS, but possibly also via WP:SPAM inasmuch as it contains links to purchase the albums, and maybe even via WP:COI since you're the owner of the website). To the extent that this jeopardizes the existence of the list (which I mentioned had narrowly avoided deletion) I just want to make sure that you understand why it would be best for you to really minimize linking to it.

Anyway, congratulations on BlipBlop and the Discogs list (both of which are very in line with my interests), and thanks again for your good edits here! If you need any help or would like to discuss anything my talk page is always open. Happy editing! -Thibbs (talk) 13:25, 5 June 2016 (UTC)


 * REPLY Hi Thibbs! Thank you for your message and the helpful list of resources - as you have likely realized, I'm quite new to contributing to Wikipedia. And good work on the list - it was one of the first resources I started using when creating BlipBlop.net! I admit I was aware that self-published content might not be the best course of action so I've used it only when lacking a more official (or reliable if you will) source. Had I known that I could jeopardize the existence of this Wiki-page I would have never submitted it (and I would fully understand the removal of blipblop links in the sources).


 * I guess my main concern is that there are many well-documented releases that fit this list, but that are not documented via reliable sources according to Wiki standards. But since that's how it is, then I will do my best to only add reliable sources in the future. Again, thanks for your message! -Rpbtz (talk) 14:22, 5 June 2016 (UTC)


 * Oops, I just noticed your response now. Right now the list article only has 3 refs to BlipBlop (for Transistor, Panzer Dragoon, and Brigador) so it's not a big problem and looking at those three in particular it seems like they are all good uses of the website. Press releases, newsletters, and Steam announcements are generally harder to cite than actual articles and the BlipBlop pages for these three serve as summaries of the available information so I think it makes sense in those three cases. The website should be used sparingly but I think what we have now is fine. I added a link to BlipBlop in the external links section, by the way. I think it most closely mirrors links to MobyGames from the video game articles (MobyGames is generally allowed as an external link because it has a page full of refs to offline material that might not be in the wikipedia article) or to IMDb for Wikipedia's film articles. It's an arguable position, but for now I think it works well. If you can think of any other websites that meet WP:ELYES or WP:ELMAYBE points #3 or #4 then feel free to add them to the External links section at the bottom. Avoid forums and crowd-sourced websites, though. -Thibbs (talk) 23:45, 7 June 2016 (UTC)