User talk:Swatbaron


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July 2010
Welcome to Wikipedia. Although everyone is welcome to contribute constructively to the encyclopedia, your addition of one or more external links to the page SWAT 3: Close Quarters Battle has been reverted. Your edit here was reverted by an automated bot that attempts to remove links which are discouraged per our external links guideline from Wikipedia. The external link you added or changed is on my list of links to remove and probably shouldn't be included in Wikipedia. I removed the following link(s): http://swat3mods.blogspot.com/. If the external link you inserted or changed was to a blog, forum, free web hosting service, fansite, or similar site (see 'Links to avoid', #11), then please check the information on the external site thoroughly. Note that such sites should probably not be linked to if they contain information that is in violation of the creator's copyright (see Linking to copyrighted works), or they are not written by a recognised, reliable source. Linking to sites that you are involved with is also strongly discouraged (see conflict of interest). If you were trying to insert an external link that does comply with our policies and guidelines, then please accept my creator's apologies and feel free to undo the bot's revert. However, if the link does not comply with our policies and guidelines, but your edit included other, constructive, changes to the article, feel free to make those changes again without re-adding the link. Please read Wikipedia's external links guideline for more information, and consult my list of frequently-reverted sites. For more information about me, see my FAQ page. Thanks! --XLinkBot (talk) 22:01, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

Re: Email
Hi Swatbaron, Thanks for your email. Apologies for the delay in my reply; your email somehow found it's way into my spam folder where I only just rescued it (and of course, offers for 'pharmaceuticals', online 'degrees' and !rolexes get through just fine >:-| ).

Regarding your concerns about conflicts of interest; as long as you aren't an employee of Sierra/Vivendi/etc, you don't have much to worry about. Editing with a conflict of interest isn't forbidden on pain of death or troutwhacking or anything, just as long as any conflicts of interest are declared and any edits are as neutral as possible.

Secondly, regarding your links concerns; blogs and so forth are generally considered 'problematic' sources - as you've already found out, Blogspot for one is completely non grata by now (mostly as a result of people adding their own personal ramblings to articles on political matters - it's nothing you've done wrong). However, noting that SWAT 3's multiplayer can be fixed using a VPN is a pretty significant point which should be - and currently is - noted in the article, so if the VPN community site you linked to contains an information page explaining how this can be done, it should be an acceptable reference (i.e., not just something in the external links section) with a little application of WP:IAR - after all, this isn't exactly a controversial topic.

Significant detail about modding and other matters only of interest to a dedicated player of the game usually isn't a good idea on Wikipedia however, as Wikipedia articles are intended for those unfamiliar with the subject matter (i.e., non-players of SWAT 3). For example, Wikipedia's article on Mass Effect's main character, Commander Shepard, is a short section identifying the character and their status within the story, as well as identifying the voice actors and elaborating on the design process - providing basic information for non-players which will not bore or confuse. Meanwhile, Mass Effect Wiki's article goes into detail about the character's backstory and development, including gameplay hints, which is of great interest to anyone trying to play through one of the games.

However, again, it would be worth a short note that a fair-size modding community has grown up around the game. Links to games review sites, official sites and a limited number of useful fansites or dedicated Wikis (being mindful of the external links guidelines - these shouldn't be excessive) are usually added at the end of the page to give further, more detailed reading for those wanting to know more.

I'll go ahead and add a few notes to the article now.

Hope this has helped, and welcome to Wikipedia! CaptainVindaloo t c e 15:34, 23 July 2010 (UTC)