From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[edit] Mechaniloid vs. Robot

Well, I came through poking at Mega Man Legends info and stumbled on the Reaverbot article here. Short story shorter, I edited it, and changed the mechaniloid link to robot. Then I went about actually logging in, and came back to make some further revisions (clumsy ones I'll admit), and saw the link had been changed back.

So. Rather than start an edit war, I'd like to discuss the matter... I've never seen the word mechaniloid used outside of Mega Man X, and Mega Man Zero, and while I'm certain it follows for the reaverbots to also be mechaniloids, I'm not personally sure the connection's been officially made.

Err. Basically, I just think it's easier to call them a kind of robot, since nobody in the Mega Man Legends series ever uses the term mechaniloid (or reploid, for that matter). It's like an unecessary distinction, since the term robot already covers all the information mechaniloid conveys, and there are no reploids to confuse the matter. . . Setting aside the whole carbon unit situation, anyway. Evan L. Kester 12:43, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

Well, since its more or less in the same contiuity, it is factually correct to change the term to the mechaniloid distiction. When down to bare essentials, they are the same thing, but the company inserted the term into the series and I think it plausible to utilize it. I won't change it back, however. -Zero^Talk 13:26, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

By the way, I just thought I'd clarify this.. When I edited it back, I thought I'd just forgotten to change it earlier--It was only when I looked at the history that I knew exactly what happened.

Annnd just in case anybody else happens by here, I thought I'd clarify my reasons a little better. While I believe, given the connections of the timelines, it is factually accurate to refer to reaverbots as mechaniloids, I don't think it's appropriate for a general encyclopedia. The Legends series, at least in what we've observed, has been largely independant. No where in the game do the people use terms like "reploid" or "mechaniloid." The classes of robot mentioned are instead "carbons" (who are probably more of.. clones or something), servbots, birdbots, and of course, reaverbots. And either way, they're all just different kinds of robot to begin with.

There are others, obviously, but. My point is, the only occaission where anybody would want to call anything in Mega Man Legends a Reploid or a Mechaniloid is if they're coming into the series from the Mega Man X series or the Mega Man Zero series. The only cases where someone reading the article would understand the terms would be if they similarly came from the related fandoms. Seeing as Wikipedia is an encyclopedia for the general public on the internet, and not just fans of Mega Man games, it seems highly innappropriate to me for us to use the specialized terminology of the X and Zero games for the rest of the series. Mega Man Legends has enough complications to its story without forcing people to read up on terminology from the other game series. And yes, I think this applies to Mega Man Classic as well, seeing as in Mega Man Classic everything's just called a "robot"--plain, simple, and accessible to everybody.

As far as I see it, it's a matter of accessibility. If say, Mega Man Planet, or the Mega Man Network were to start an encyclopedia, I think blending the terminology would be far more appropriate. For those sites, it's a given that most of the audience will be dedicated fans of the Mega Man series, who will be at least passingly familiar with weird terms like "mechaniloid". For most of the people reading wikipedia articles, who are likely not fans of the Mega Man series, these terms are nonsense words (and really, they are anyway), and they serve only to make any article that uses them a little more inaccessible. It is for this reason, I believe that whenever possible, we should use the term "robot" or "android" instead of "mechaniloid" or "reploid." -- Evan L. Kester 12:47, 17 April 2006 (UTC)

• I respectfully disagree. At wikipedia things are henceforth carried out at the accessibility and then as well as the correct terminology. We have a robot master link. We have a mechaniloid link. We have a reploid link. When we have such informative documents, we provide them to a reader along with the correct context. If a person is new to the subject, that's what we provide the links for.

• A fair chap might come upon this article one day and note, the "reverbot is a mechaniloid", as seen in the context. Well, what's a mechnaloid..? Guess I shall click the apporpriate link and find out. Yes, we are not a fan site. That's why we go into depth as possible, while making the written thesis as clear as one can precieve. And when in doubt, we give the reader a link for added reading. Its not it's a matter of accessibility. Its concerning the encyclopedia presenting an complete and comprehensive subject to its readers as accurately as possible. -Zero^Talk 13:54, 17 April 2006 (UTC)

Again, I don't argue with using the terms "reploid" and "mechaniloid" in the Mega Man X and Mega Man Zero series, where the terminology is actually used in the games. But I do disagree in the case of Mega Man Legends. I don't feel said fair chap, should have to follow the link to understand. As I've said. The term isn't used in Mega Man Legends to describe anything, whereas the terms robot master, and reploid are used abundantly in the Classic series and X series respectively. I doubt the authors of the series were concerned about the terminology of the X series at all when making Legends.

By no means am I suggesting we drop the Mechaniloid article entirely; it's valuable information for the X and Zero series (and it seems, now, ZX as well). I just don't feel it's appropriate to use the term for Legends. (Also, since Capcom muddies the definitions in the X series source books, using the terms "reploid" and "mechaniloid" for Legends characters and machines seems like pure fan speculation, to me at least. We don't actually know for a fact what robots are mechaniloids or reploids without Capcom's sayso.)

Once someone from Capcom, or a character in the game, uses the terms to describe things in the Legends series, then I believe it would be appropriate to change from robots. Until then, it's clunky to force the reader to click on a link, only to learn "mechaniloid" is a fancy term for "robots that aren't reploids" so that they would then have to learn what a reploid is... Especially given that to our knowledge, in the Mega Man timeline, the terms "reploid" and "mechaniloid" are several centuries out of date in the Legends series. --Evan L. Kester 12:08, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Aaaand... I just realized I effectively reversed my position on the factuality. It MIGHT be factually correct, but I'm not sure it is, especially since to my knowledge, no Capcom official has used the term relative to the Legends series, nor has anybody in the series used it. If my inconsistency there invalidates my point, oh well. Either way, it still seems to me like a rather big assumption, founded mostly on speculation within the fandom. I wouldn't call Sigma or Mega Man X robot masters either, because while it would be possible to draw the connection, given the continuity, they are never designated as robot masters. --Evan L. Kester 13:11, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

• I understand where you're coming from, friend. I'm merely advocating that we use the official terminolgy to immerse the reader into the source subject. This is encyclopedia. That's what we do. And yes, why it may take a little sifting between links, that's what we provide them for. That's what makes this encyclopedia so special. Its a wiki. I don't think its too much to ask when we provide a link to expand the reader's knowledge base. -Zero^Talk 14:11, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

...Actually, that's not exactly where I'm coming from. I have this bad habit of getting off on a tangent that I think is more solid, only to find out my gut reaction is better. I suck at debates as a result. But. No where that I know of, does a Capcom source call Reaverbots mechaniloids. Even talking about if Mega Man Trigger is a Reploid is pure speculation. We can probably ASSUME this, but quite frankly, it's not part of Mega Man Legends. And I don't think immersing yourself in MMX terminology helps you understand Mega Man Legends any better. Where I'm coming from is I'm seeing people talking about Reploids and Mechaniloids in a series where the terms have never been used, except in fan communities.

I'm sorry for my long winded posts, and wandering arguments, but it really does come down to the fact that the Mechaniloid information is unecessary to anything Mega Man Legends related, and we can't even be SURE it's accurate. For all we know, Reaverbots would actually be reploids. Capcom's never said. Only fans have. If you can show me where Capcom made the Mechaniloid-Reaverbot connection, O-K. But just sharing the continuity isn't proof enough. We can speculate and guess, but it really could go either way. The fact that the reaverbots made little dolls might actually suggest they're more like reploids. Would you feel comfortable labeling them Reploids? That they leave behind fossils might suggest something even more bizarre. --Evan L. Kester 16:27, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

I wholeheartedly agree, there is no confirmation that a reaverbot is a mechaniloid, only speculation. And speculation does not belong here, certainly not to be passed on as fact.