Help talk:Style guide

New capitalization

What is the policy for projectiles and ammunition ("a rocket"/"a Rocket", "sticky bomb"/"Sticky Bomb")? — WindPower 15:41, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

I'm not sure, but I think it's a Rocket/a Sticky bomb Delicious cake 15:48, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

"Unlockable" vs. "Craftable" weapons.

I've noticed that many community-submitted weapons are referred to as "Unlockable." In my mind, unlockable weapons are those which you receive by unlocking milestone achievements, whereas those which can only be received by crafting are "Craftable" weapons. I think these terms are more specific, giving the reader more detail as to how they may be obtained, while still using only one word. --Shackanaw 18:58, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

Which pages are you referring to? The Weapons page lists them as "Drop" --Firestorm 19:01, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

I'd be tempted to call them community weapons but community weapons refers to something else. Contribute Items maybe? -- Nineaxis 19:03, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

I should clarify: my issue isn't with the fact that they are community weapons, but that they are only obtainable through the crafting system. Therefore, I also think the Gunboats should be referred to as "craftable." The specific pages I have seen this on, or at least, those that I can recall off the top of my head, are the Southern Hospitality and Tribalman's Shiv. --Shackanaw 19:29, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

They say Drop. What are you talking about? -- Smashman... _{(t • s)} 19:30, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

Ah, he's referring to the first sentence "an Unlockable weapon". --Firestorm 19:37, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

Indeed, I'm not talking about the info chart, but to the article content: "The Southern Hospitality is an unlockable, community-made melee weapon used by the Engineer." As an aside however, I 'do' think "Drop" is too specific, since several items are droppable and craftable, whereas milestone unlockables can also be found through the drop system, but are not craftable. --Shackanaw 19:39, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

Ah, but they ARE craftable if you use metal and tokens. The term "unlockable" when used in the article merely describes the item as one that you can get through some means, whether by crafting, achievements or dropping. This is different from "Promotional" weapons that you cannot get normally. I think "Drop" is fine, as that means that it cannot be found with achievement, but randomly. We keep crafting out of that, as any item can be crafted. --Firestorm 19:44, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

Oh, I was not aware you could craft milestone unlockables in that manner. Still, as far as articles about specific weapons are concerned, I think it would be better if we referred to them as craftable, milestone unlockable (or some variation thereof), promotional, and stock weapons in the first sentence, so the reader immediately knows how these weapons are obtained. --Shackanaw 19:52, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

I'd say "Findable" as every weapon is craftable, then again unlocks are findable too. -- Smashman... _{(t • s)} 19:59, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

This is on the Weapons page:

• Standard weapons are always available.
• Unlock weapons are available via achievements, crafting, or the drop system.
• Drop weapons are only available by crafting or the drop system.
• Promotion weapons require participation in Valve promotions, and are not obtainable in game.
• Special weapons are only available for a period of time in/or through specific events.

Surely this solves our problem? ApertureScienceAI 21:08, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

Ninja'd, I was just about to point that out. --Firestorm 21:33, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

I'd still argue that "Drop" is a misnomer if one can craft the weapon, but the reverse is true with "Craftable" as well. Still, if this terminology is already in use in the Weapons article, could we add it to the style guide as well? Whatever we call it, I think we should be consistent across articles. --Shackanaw 22:44, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

It's a fair point. At the moment, all craftable weapons can be dropped and visa versa (except for promotion and special weapons) meaning we have no need to make a distinction. We could consider a new format: Unlock weapons are obtained by achievements, Drop (or Collectable, if drop isn't formal enough) weapons are available from the item drop system and Craftable weapons are available from crafting. If a weapon has multiple attributes, we pick the first one in the order (Unlock, Drop, Craft)? ApertureScienceAI 23:15, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

The problem with that, is that there aren't any itmes that can be crafted that DON'T drop, so the "Craft" description would never be used --Firestorm 23:30, 12 July 2010 (UTC)