Ma Bletherin Blab

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“

Less yappin', more zappin'! — The Soldier on idle chit-chat.

”

Userpage

I wouldn't exactly mind some help :P

I've been trying to find someone to help me/start it up for about 6 months now, and you're the only one that has ever offered. Thank you. — The preceding unsigned comment was added by Growncool7 (talk) • (contribs) 00:48, 4 March 2012

Rubik

There is this new guy agian called Rubik and he changed the whole Demoman biography into Hi, MY NAME IS YOGDEEP KALIA, IM FROM INDIA Please tell him to watch it Lockon 05:05, 4 March 2012 (PST)

I'm not an admin so I can't block him or anything, there's nothing more I can do that you can't, so just keep an eye on him. » Cooper Kid (blether) • (contreebs) 06:54, 4 March 2012 (PST)

Template:User Item

Why not revert it to this revision for now? Wikitext seems to be pretty flaky anyways.--Fiskie ^{Talk :: Contribs} 07:25, 4 March 2012 (PST)

Whoops, pretty sure I had reverted it - my internets must have broken =( Thanks for noticing! » Cooper Kid (blether) • (contreebs) 08:50, 4 March 2012 (PST)

Hey, check this out! User:GordonFrohman/Item Limie Pie 10:24, 4 March 2012 (PST)

Nice, you got the colours working! The only other thing I had a problem with it the item name - the quality and name should be on the same line, in bold, and all the same colour as the quality (e.g. Strange "Lon Lon Milk" or Vintage Mad Milk). If you're interested, I've been using it to display the items in my loadout; you can see how the old revision works here. Thanks alot for helping! » Cooper Kid (blether) • (contreebs) 11:21, 4 March 2012 (PST)

OK, ignore me, I see you've already fixed all that and updated the original template. Thanks a million! » Cooper Kid (blether) • (contreebs) 11:22, 4 March 2012 (PST)

Ninja'd me ;D You're welcome. Now I am trying to make the template being able to read pain cans' names, instead of codes. Limie Pie 11:24, 4 March 2012 (PST)

Nice =D Eventually I hope to be able to use named parameters as well, but I think I'll leave it be for a while. I've had enough of that template for a few days XD » Cooper Kid (blether) • (contreebs) 11:36, 4 March 2012 (PST)

Heh, good luck then! But actually I'm done. Look at my User:GordonFrohman/Item again! Limie Pie 11:47, 4 March 2012 (PST)

By the way, what was actually wrong with my code? I'd be interested to know how you got it to work. » Cooper Kid (blether) • (contreebs) 13:01, 4 March 2012 (PST)

You wrote {{paint}} and {{name}}, instead of {{paint|}} and {{name|}}, so IF template was not working. With symbol | it began asking for any non-empty definition. (Translation: I have no idea, I just pushed some buttons and somehow it began working. :DD) Limie Pie 13:08, 4 March 2012 (PST)

Great - it's nice to know I was only failing a little bit =) I was worried I'd done something seriously stupid. » Cooper Kid (blether) • (contreebs) 13:19, 4 March 2012 (PST)

I've managed to get those parameters working properly =) And I've also sent a message to everyone else who was using the template so they'll know why it's suddenly stopped working. I did originally leave it unlisted hoping that no-one would try and use it 'till it was finished, but apparently nothing can hide on the wiki =/ » Cooper Kid (blether) • (contreebs) 17:00, 4 March 2012 (PST)

Just wanna say thanks since the new parameter method is pretty neat. Thanks --Fiskie ^{Talk :: Contribs} 14:52, 6 March 2012 (PST)

Demoman Skin

I tend to avoid custom skins, but I really envy your Demoman picture. Did you make it just for the page, or is it a real skin you can download? If so could you post the link?

Thank you for your time. From an American Scot to one in the country.--Magnum Force-Enforcer 17:06, 5 March 2012 (PST)

Haha, I actually just recoloured it using an image editor, it's not a reskin at all =) Glad you like it though! » Cooper Kid (blether) • (contreebs) 18:21, 5 March 2012 (PST)

Oh. If it was real I would love to use it.--Magnum Force-Enforcer 18:41, 5 March 2012 (PST)

Wikichievement

Yay~ Thx =)--FreeXMan Talk | Cont 06:55, 7 March 2012 (PST)

Talk:Item sets#Split

I've modified it a little, so there are now three options. Could you change your message (and opinion) to reflect this?  –  Epic Eric (T | C) 13:18, 7 March 2012 (PST)

Template

He use (Template:Misc of the month image) on the 3 pages.--FreeXMan Talk | Cont 12:04, 26 March 2012 (PDT)

I've switched the misc image template to use a new one now, it's just taking a while for the What Links Here to notice. If you think about it, the only links there are transclusions, which shouldn't be possible unless another page is linked to it directly. » Cooper Kid (blether) • (contreebs) 12:06, 26 March 2012 (PDT)

Alba gu bràth!

I complied with your request and changed my signature to a link. The reason I initially did that was because I accidentally used my real name when I signed up and I'm trying to shy away from using it (or revealing it) without having to start over. You raise a good point, so I linked my signature.

Anyway, cheers, and long live Scotland!

Reverend 12:20, 29 March 2012 (PDT)

Great :) It's also handy to link your talk page in your sig, for anyone who wants to get in touch with you. And if it helps you can change the title of your userpage to match your new name by putting {{DISPLAYTITLE:Reverend}} somewhere on it (I've done a similar thing on this talk page), though it will still list your real profile name in the Recent Changes log when you make an edit, so if you're that worried about using it then you're best just to make a new one. » Cooper Kid (blether) • (contreebs) 07:21, 30 March 2012 (PDT)

Loadout: How to

I wanted to put up a Loadout on the bottom of my page like you have and was wondering if you could help me out. I would really appreciate it!--Magnum Force-Enforcer 15:25, 8 April 2012 (PDT)

Not a problem :) It's easy enough to do, but does require quite a lot of code so to make things simpler it's a good idea to make a separate loadout page (something like User:Magnum Force-Enforcer/Loadout would do) so that you can edit and play around with the code without having to worry about messing up your user page. You can display it on your userpage the same way you'd do so with a template on any article on the wiki, with the code {{User:Magnum Force-Enforcer/Loadout}}. You can see I've done a similar thing here.

The next step is to get the code you need - the easiest thing to do is just copy the code from my one and edit it to suit your loadout. It's actually pretty basic - the table and tabs on the left are all done by the {{ClassTabs}} template, so all you need to change are the parameters in each of the {{User Item}} templates, the same way you use the parameters in a userbox. There's a list of parameters you can use here.

That's really all there is to it - just keep playing around with the code till you get it right - and remember that Show Preview button =P One small word of caution though - the {{User Item}} template is still a work in progress so it might be altered in the future. I've been letting everyone who uses the template know whenever I change anything major but as more and more people are using it that's becoming more trouble than it's worth. Just don't worry if one day it suddenly goes haywire and stops working properly - that'll just be me messing around with it. It'll be fixed soon enough :) Let me know if you need any more help setting everything up! » Cooper Kid (blether) • (contreebs) 16:28, 8 April 2012 (PDT)

No problems. Thanks for the help you are credit to team.--Magnum Force-Enforcer 12:01, 9 April 2012 (PDT)

Thanks

Reads better now. TheDoctor 15:54, 13 May 2012 (PDT)

This week's hat is...

So where are these decisions coming from? If they're organized: How so? If they aren't: How do you prevent repetition? Darkid (Talk | contribs) 20:05, 14 May 2012 (PDT)

I've coded a number generator which automatically selects a random hat from a list every week. All I need to do is add new items to the list now and then, and change the template on the hats page at the beginning of every week. Same for miscs. There's nothing preventing items from being repeated, but there are 228 hats and 117 miscs, so the chances of the same item being picked more than once are pretty slim. It's been almost half a year since the system started and nothing's been repeated yet! » Cooper Kid (blether) • (contreebs) 03:29, 15 May 2012 (PDT)

Slim is actually wrong, there. If you haven't, look at the Template:W. 228+117=345, so less than the days in the year. Sheer luck, no less, has brought us this far. That or there's a bit about the way randomness works. Regardless, if you have the time you might consider (or I might consider) attributing that duty to WindBOT or some other such bot. Darkid (Talk | contribs) 04:23, 15 May 2012 (PDT)
Aha! Your random number generator is not random at all. Since it keeps the same year, and cycles through weeks, it will run through a non-repeating list of 50 hats (and miscs). However, next year there is no such guarantee, and a hat from the previous year might appear. This is likely within the tolerance of such a program. And, since hats (and miscs) keep being released, it increases the modulo. Albeit these changes *could* cause issue, but it is not likely. If you were using a random number generator, collisions become much more likely. Darkid (Talk | contribs) 04:34, 15 May 2012 (PDT)

Ah, but it uses the current year as a factor in the calculation, so it does change each year. Like you said though, the number of hats and miscs changes almost every week, so that doesn't really matter. The randomness factor is of course all down to luck. One option would be to remove an item from the list once it comes up, but I decided it doesn't really matter if the same hat is picked twice - the chances of it happening for two weeks in a row are still minimal. It's an interesting experiment nonetheless - I've been expecting an item to repeat for some weeks now.
I had originally intended for the generator to be a duty assigned to a bot, or even to link it directly to the template so that it updated itself, but there was an issue involving the cache and increased loading times that comes with using such a complex template. Some of the mods were happy to just forget the whole thing, so I volunteered to look after it manually. » Cooper Kid (blether) • (contreebs) 06:16, 15 May 2012 (PDT)

You seem to be manually updating Template:The hat of the month and Template:The misc of the month despite the fact that they read identically to the randomness template you have. Why not link directly to the template? Additionally, since I'd like to use this template, could you(I) change the template to simply put out the name of the hat/misc, and allow for it to be used however? User:Darkid/Sig 11:14, 19 June 2012 (PDT)

Edit: I actually refer to User:Cooper_Kid/Hat_image_generator and User:Cooper_Kid/Misc_image_generator. User:Darkid/Sig 11:27, 19 June 2012 (PDT)

I had originally intended to link the templates directly so that they updated automatically, but one of the mods (seb if I recall correctly) explained that such a big template would cause cache issues and make the Hats and Misc items pages load slowly for some users. At the time they were just about ready to scrap the whole idea so in order to keep it going I elected to look after it manually, at least until we figure out a more efficient method.

What exactly are you wanting to use the template for? It would mean an awful lot of tedious work to replace every item with a simple text entry. If it's the image box you're wanting to display you can use {{Item image}} to get the same format. » Cooper Kid (blether) • (contreebs) 12:23, 19 June 2012 (PDT)

It would ideally have been for a signature; putting the hat as a link to my talk page and the misc as a link to my contribs. Using an embedded SUBST: to eliminate template calls. It strikes me that you could get one of the admins to configure their bot to do said update. Also, the removal of {{item image}} can be done by me--it's just find/replace, not too hard. User:Darkid/Sig 14:58, 19 June 2012 (PDT)

Nice idea - though it occurred to me that I do still use the images on the random generator pages. Removing the last double-bracket from the template causes an error which actually displays all of the items on the one page, allowing me to check that all the images are working correctly. Why not just copy+paste the code into a page in your own namespace? Then you can do what you want with it. » Cooper Kid (blether) • (contreebs) 16:12, 19 June 2012 (PDT)

I could do that, but then it wouldn't be synced with the changes you make. I bet I can fix it up--I'll build a sample copy on my namespace, then make the changes on yours. User:Darkid/Sig 16:50, 19 June 2012 (PDT)

I've made a revision on my page--it checks out! This is what it looks like: User:Darkid/Hat_image_generator. Are you ok with this? User:Darkid/Sig 17:06, 19 June 2012 (PDT)

Wait wait wait - so you moved the {{Item image}} template outside the loop (I should have thought of that) and used noinclude to display the name of the item when the template is called?

That, sir, is brilliant. You have my blessing =D » Cooper Kid (blether) • (contreebs) 17:26, 19 June 2012 (PDT)

TBH, that was only the last edit I did... I was using just a self-referenced link along with the item image template... but thanks! I'll take that as permission to move it into your userspace... User:Darkid/Sig 17:28, 19 June 2012 (PDT)

RE about the plagiarism:

Cooper Kid, Please let me remind you that this issue had been discussed many times in the TF2 Wiki, and I have to say that any of your concern and dissatisfaction does not happen, and will not happen in the future. After much discussion, what the Chinese did is surely not acceptable, even though with the Terms of Use. Please understand that no matter how perfect any laws and rules are, they are rigid, and need to be executed flexibly by administer. That's why admins and moderators exist, because they have to apply the rules with their careful judgment. In order to use the rules smoothly and without controversy, the moderators and admins have to learn to be flexible, so that the rules can be used with flexibility, and prevent someone to use it improperly and unjustly. That's why even though with the Terms of Use, I still need to delete those pages. Stopping the copy acts and prevent any moral injustice is my responsibility and my duty in the Wiki. So please do not think of my act as the improper act, I have to stop these act from continuing happen. It is not because I "feel", it's because I "have to".
Plus, even though you do not agree with any of my act, I am still a moderator. The admins gave me the power and right to delete and protect the pages, is because they trust me and my own judgment. If my acts are considered improper act, then why they still help me delete the pages when I was NOT a moderator yet? That's because they have understood the whole situation and know my requests are reasonable and commendable. Chinese is a really complicated language, I do not have the confidence to explain and make you understand. You have to trust my judgment, I did not and will not delete all the zh-hans pages just for fun or vengeance. If you still think that I am evil or outlaw, then feel free to think in that way, I will still continue blocking the users who are copying pages and delete those copied pages, and do everything that I consider right and just.
07:06, 19 May 2012 (PDT)

Whoa, I didn't say you were evil, did I? ;-) I wasn't fully involved with the other discussions you had about this matter, so I never heard the results - I just wanted to make sure pages weren't being deleted without good reason as the edit summary simply stated "plagiarism". I can see now that you've given it all the consideration it requires, and I'm perfectly happy with that - I really didn't mean to doubt your judgement as a moderator, and you have my apologies for the misunderstanding. Thanks for clearing everything up :) » Cooper Kid (blether) • (contreebs) 09:56, 20 May 2012 (PDT)

Pile O'Gifts player receiving Secret Saxton and additional item

I have used 4 Pile o' Gifts on servers with at least 24 active players to ensure the maximum efficiency of my Pile o' Gifts. The last three times using a pile every player who got a Secret Saxton (respectively 1 - 1 - 2) also got a normal weapon in addition to the Saxton. This can be confirmed by reading the server logs. Please undo the removal of the trivia on the Pile o' Gifts page. Wiethoofd 04:12, 28 May 2012 (PDT)

You said it yourself - if you've used 4 and only in the last 3 were extra gifts given, that's not consistent enough to be deemed as regular behaviour. It's just coincidence that those four players happened to get their next drop at the same time that you used your Pile o' Gifts. There may be some hidden code which makes it more likely for drops to occur immediately after receiving a gift; I don't know, but it will take more testing to figure out for sure. » Cooper Kid (blether) • (contreebs) 04:16, 28 May 2012 (PDT)

In the chat box it said:

• Player was gifted: Secret Saxton
• Player was gifted: Boston Basher

Only the last three times there were Saxtons gifted, but when they were there was the additional line for another gift in the chat/server log. If it had been a drop it would have said: Player found: Mannthreads, uncrating has it's own response rule in chat, as does trading and unwrapping gifts. Wiethoofd 04:40, 28 May 2012 (PDT)

That is a bit odd. Start a discussion on the Pile o' Gifts talk page then; if the fundamental rules of the item have indeed changed then more people will notice soon enough. » Cooper Kid (blether) • (contreebs) 04:49, 28 May 2012 (PDT)

Today I used 2 Pile o' Gifts (generous mood) and the first gifted someone a Secret Saxton and additional gift. I copied the complete chat log, wrote down previous gifts given counters and will analyse my findings. Also I will start the discussion on the Pile o' Gifts talk page if my hypothesis is right so the Trivia section can be reinstated. Wiethoofd 15:02, 29 May 2012 (PDT)

Excellent - that's the way to do it =) » Cooper Kid (blether) • (contreebs) 15:54, 29 May 2012 (PDT)

Bored?

Gender switching that important to you? Just curious because there are far more important things which could be done with a man of your intelect. TheDoctor 07:49, 28 May 2012 (PDT)

I'm unwell and it's sunny outside so I'm at a bit of a loose end. Copy + pasting a tiny line of code is easy XD How was your Wikibreak? » Cooper Kid (blether) • (contreebs) 07:51, 28 May 2012 (PDT)

I'm also unwell but only now because my holidays are over and i sweat a lot and it's hot hot hot. Sooo my wikibreak was great but i sweat way to much atm. TheDoctor 08:00, 28 May 2012 (PDT)

This global warming, eh? ;-) Hope you feel better soon! » Cooper Kid (blether) • (contreebs) 09:05, 28 May 2012 (PDT)

Bad Trivia

I see you removed some of my trivia on the Demoman page. Was wondering why? I did read the reason, but the fact you said, "the Demoman is obviously not of Scottish Origin," when the bio says, "Location of origin :Ullapool, Scotland, United Kingdom," seemed a bit contradicting to me. I'm not annoyed, just trying to understand if that makes sense. Taser9001 05:20, 30 May 2012 (PDT)

OK, that was maybe a bad example - basically I was trying to say that the characters' names are irrelevant. The fact that DeGroot is a Dutch name pales into insignificance when you consider that, being black, the Demoman is obviously not of Scottish origin. There are no 'native' black Scots, so to speak. That's not to say he isn't Scottish though. The fact is that if the Medic's name was John Smith there wouldn't be a piece of trivia stating that Smith isn't a German name - it's just not that interesting. » Cooper Kid (blether) • (contreebs) 07:41, 30 May 2012 (PDT)

On another note

I really hate to be cheeky, but could you help me set up my profile page? I've done minor edits here and there to the wiki, but I would like a decent profile page. Only problem is I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to doing so.... :/ Taser9001 05:39, 30 May 2012 (PDT) Main problem is uploading a picture and icon to my info box. Taser9001 06:17, 30 May 2012 (PDT)

> Reply on your talk page. » Cooper Kid (blether) • (contreebs) 07:41, 30 May 2012 (PDT)

Thanks mate. Quick question. How did you do the loadout thing? I'd like that on my page. Same goes for the collection thing. Taser9001 08:22, 30 May 2012 (PDT)

What I mean by that is do you have to do it manually or can you link it to your Steam profile so it automatically updates? Taser9001 08:35, 30 May 2012 (PDT)

The item checklist can be set up to be updated automatically by WindBOT - see here for full details.

The loadout one is one of my own creations and a little more difficult as the only way to do it is to fill the whole thing out manually. It uses a template I made called {{User Item}} which acts a bit like a userbox. The easiest way I think would be to go to my Loadout page, copy the code there, and paste it onto a seperate page for yourself. Then edit the values to whatever you want. There's a more detailed description on how to use {{User Item}} on its page.

By the way, both these pages use templates to display on your user page, to make them easier to edit. This works the same way as any template on the wiki; for example you should make your loadout page at User:Taser9001/Loadout, and display it on your userpage by pasting the code {{User:Taser9001/Loadout}} somewhere on it. » Cooper Kid (blether) • (contreebs) 09:46, 30 May 2012 (PDT)

Sandman Trivia

Sorry to bug you... AGAIN. Could you have a quick look at the discussion page for the Sandman? I feel that I may have found the actual reference for the name. Taser9001 11:11, 4 June 2012 (PDT)

No bother at all - it's why I'm here =) I've replied to your discussion post. » Cooper Kid (blether) • (contreebs) 09:35, 5 June 2012 (PDT)

Ye Olde Signature

Now then, I have sort of fixed it and it should be better now :Y TNS 06:38, 5 June 2012 (PDT)

Thankee kind sir! » Cooper Kid (blether) • (contreebs) 09:23, 5 June 2012 (PDT)

I hate bad puns, but I still must give you this

rZ-chievement	Awarded by	Reason
Riddled You That Successfully answer one of rZ's questions.	rZ	For knowing a thing or two about Template:Ws.

I'm glad somebody got it. rZ 16:23, 5 June 2012 (PDT)

The sad thing is I failed my final maths exam in school :`( I'll take my prize in cash, thanks. » Cooper Kid (blether) • (contreebs) 17:13, 5 June 2012 (PDT)

Dammit

rZ-chievement	Awarded by	Reason
Riddled You That Successfully answer one of rZ's questions.	rZ	For making me realize the riddles I make are as easy as [insert analogy here].

Reluctantly, rZ 18:56, 5 June 2012 (PDT)

3D stuff

COMPLETELY irrelevant to the wiki altogether, but you are the helpful kind of guy. I need a modeller for my hat idea. I have tried Facebook, Polycount, Facepunch, and my posts just get removed, even when in the right areas. I don't suppose you know of any do you? Yeah, sorry for not being on topic. Taser9001 07:51, 12 June 2012 (PDT)

I'm afraid I can't really help you there - 3D modelling is something I've been meaning to have a look into myself as I've done a bit of it at school, but I've never yet found the time. The biggest problem isn't really finding a modeller (anyone can learn to use a modelling program, and your ideas are best implemented by yourself) but finding the right modelling program to use. I've heard 3DSmax is a good one but it's an industrial program so is quite expensive. I'd suggest asking on the Template:Forums to see if anyone can recommend a good program - and if I find out anything more myself I'll let you know. » Cooper Kid (blether) • (contreebs) 16:49, 15 June 2012 (PDT)

Well I found a modeller. My sister's boyfriend. XD Taser9001 11:00, 23 June 2012 (PDT)