Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Halo 3

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was promoted 03:17, 24 January 2008.

[edit] Halo 3

previous FAC 1
previous FAC 2
Check external links

I think all of the concerns from the previous nomination have been addressed. The article is also currently part of a featured topic nomination but because it is already a GA the 2 nominations shouldn't have any effect on each other. James086Talk | Email 14:23, 14 January 2008 (UTC)

  • Support: Pretty engaging read. The plot section is concise enough (without being choppy) with enough backstory to let this stand on its own. Gameplay is descriptive enough. Marketing and critical reception are also quite good. Relevant points seem to have been cited. The only issues I can think of are minor:
    • "The Chief and company quickly activate the installation's Cartographer to find Truth; in the process, Guilty Spark discovers that the Ark is creating a new ringworld to replace his destroyed installation" (Halo 3#Plot). The way I understood it (I haven't played the game, I have just read this article), Ark is like a remote trigger for the Halos. Then how can it create a new ringworld (another Halo, I presume?). Is something wrong here? (Ark used in place of Truth Prophet?)
      • Response: There's no problem, it is like a remote trigger but at that point you discover that it can also create Halos. Mad031683 (talk) 16:51, 14 January 2008 (UTC)
    • A few screenshots to demonstate the technical features - Forge and Saved games playback/sharing UI (Halo 3#Gameplay)- could be a good option. Its kinda hard to visualize it without a picture.
    • Can't the images in the gallery (Halo 3#Versions) be floated sideways? It kinda shoves the images up in the face and is somewhat distracting.
      • I moved the images to the table of features. ♦TH1RT3EN talk ♦ contribs 17:47, 14 January 2008 (UTC)
    • With respect to "In multiplayer games where Forge is enabled, players can turn into a Forerunner Monitor and edit and manipulate objects in-game" (Halo 3#Gameplay), isn't Forge an offline map editor, i.e., the map has to be edited before playing commences using the map? Then what does "Forge being enabled on a map" mean? And if editing has to be done beforehand, what is this in-game editing thing? This could do with some clarification.
      • Clarified that, its not an offline editor, play can be going on while the map is being edited Mad031683 (talk) 16:58, 14 January 2008 (UTC)
    • "...and Forge settings can all be uploaded to the 'File Share'" (Halo 3#Gameplay) - Where is this "File Share" hosted? Is it an XBL-only thing or can be accessed via the Bungie (or any other) website?
      • I added "Anyone can browse user created content that has been uploaded to Bungie's website on a personal computer and tag it to automatically download to their console next time they sign into Xbox Live." to explain how it works. James086Talk | Email 04:32, 15 January 2008 (UTC)
    • The Halo 3#Versions section says "..."Beastiarum", which is a hard cover bound collection of information and art covering the species" (for the Limited edition) and later for Legendary edition, it reads "Beastiarum (on one of the DVD discs)". How can a hard bound booklet be in a DVD disc? Does this mean the Beastarium for the Legendary edition is actually a soft copy of the content?
      • Yes, its a booklet for limited and on the dvd for legendary.Mad031683 (talk) 16:59, 14 January 2008 (UTC)

--soum talk 16:12, 14 January 2008 (UTC)

      • I moved "hard cover bound" to before "Bestiarum", in hopes to better clarify that the Limited Ed. has the book and the Legendary Ed. has the DVD with the same content. ♦TH1RT3EN talk ♦ contribs 17:33, 14 January 2008 (UTC)

Comments:

  • The fair-use rationales need to specify which article the image is being used for. For example, Fair-use rationale for Halo 3.
    • Which images don't? I thought all of the fair-use images already did that. James086Talk | Email 03:04, 15 January 2008 (UTC)
      • My mistake, I just looked at the heading (which doesn't specify) without looking at the content.
  • Unless captions are full sentences, they shouldn't have a full-stop, per MoS.
  • "These are "weapons, grenades, and melee",[16] all three of which are normally available to a player. If by "normally available", you mean an unlimited resource, or something available from the onset, please reword to specify this. "Normally available" seems a bit vague.
    • I changed it to "which are available to a player in most situations" because in the next sentence it describes how "a player forgoes both grenades and melee attacks in favor of the combined firepower of two weapons simultaneously." I'm not sure "normally available" implies an unlimited resource. For example I would say that food is normally available from my fridge but it's not unlimited. Only the melee attacks are of unlimited quantity. It could be reworded further though. James086Talk | Email 03:04, 15 January 2008 (UTC)
  • Try cut out some redundant "alsos"; this article has loads of them.
    • I got rid of 7 out of the 15 (ie there are 8 remaining). Does it still seem repetitive? James086Talk | Email 03:04, 15 January 2008 (UTC)
  • "save up to 100 films of themselves playing a level". The true meaning may seem obvious, but from this it suggests that the actual person playing is being recorded, rather than the gameplay, if that makes sense.
    • Changed to "save up to 100 films of gameplay to their Xbox 360's" James086Talk | Email 03:04, 15 January 2008 (UTC)
  • I don't know about the "Setting" section. Try not to delve too deeply into the plot aspect and general Halo context.
  • The same as I've said at the Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow FAC. The plot's too long and has that "A meets B, and then" style. Most other FAs follow this style, though, but I just think it's too extensive.
  • The first two sentences of "Development" could do with a source.
    • I added a ref for the first sentence but I'm still looking for one for the second sentence. Does anyone know where that was said? James086Talk | Email 09:07, 15 January 2008 (UTC)
  • The first paragraph of "Marketing and release has only one source. Can anymore be found?
    • I found another 1 source which will cover all of the rest, it's an analysis of the marketing. James086Talk | Email 03:04, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

I hope that this helps. Ashnard Talk Contribs 18:12, 14 January 2008 (UTC)

  • Yes, anything to improve the article is appreciated but your in-depth review is great. Thanks! James086Talk | Email 03:04, 15 January 2008 (UTC)
    • Thanks. I forgot to say, but this really is an excellent article; my only reservation is the plot. Ashnard Talk Contribs 17:48, 15 January 2008 (UTC)
In response to the plot; I expanded the setting section because reviewers at the last FAC thought that the plot section was too confusing otherwise. Halo 3 is a direct continuation off the previous game, and also ties in with the first game- and there's no recap at the beginning, so I expanded the setting in order to make the plot more understandable for those who hadn't played halo before. David Fuchs (talk) 21:47, 15 January 2008 (UTC)
  • Support never played these games, but all the Halo articles are impressive. igordebraga ≠ 18:42, 14 January 2008 (UTC)
  • Support: Very well written and informative with excellent prose and an especially well written lead. I do have a few minor issues:
  • I'm not sure if there was a good reason (perhaps because it is only an overview), but the "Characters" section has no citations at all. Again, I'm not sure if this is a problem, but as we are going for FA, it may be a good idea to add some.
    • I think there aren't any citations because it's fairly obvious to a player who is and isn't in the game. Like we don't have to cite the fact that it's a first person shooter. Though I'll come back later today (going out now) and add citations of the instruction manual which has the voice credits (and hence the list of characters as well), unless someone else beats me to it. James086Talk | Email 00:30, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
  • The "Marketing and Release" and "Versions" section have some challengable statements that are not backed up with citations. (e.g. From "Versions": "Gamestation stores in the UK also offered a limited edition Master Chief figurine only available to the first 1000 pre-orders." From "Marketing and Release": "Throughout the course of development four "developer documentaries" were released, which explain the processes behind creating parts of the game.")
    • I sourced the figurine sentence but it's hard to find a source that says that there were 4 released during deveolpment. I can link to the 4 documentaries and there was a 5th released after the game (see Marketing for Halo 3#Developer documentaries), but I can't find a source that mentions all 4. James086Talk | Email 08:43, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
      • Thanks, and don't sweat it with the dev diaries, its not a big deal to me, I was just listing possible problems. Thingg⊕⊗ 16:45, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
  • This statement in "Sales": "According to Microsoft, first-day sales of Halo 3 reached $170 million in the U.S., setting the record for highest gross of an entertainment product within 24 hours of its release. The performance beat the previous record setter, predecessor Halo 2, which earned $125 million within 24 hours after its launch." — which I believe was referenced by a Reuters story in reference 86, points to an article that is (quoted from the website) "...not currently available".
  • This is just a suggestion, but you may want to better convey the fact that all the info in the "Content for download" section is cited.
  • The "Critical Reception and Impact" section may (note the indefinate article) be slightly NPOV. I'm not positive, but I think there may be more criticism of the game (especially the single-player campaign) than is mentioned. I'm not requesting that you dig up all the dirt you can find from any fanboy website, but I was pretty sure there was a fair amount of criticism of the single-player mode in particular. Again, I could be wrong on this one.
    • It was decided (Talk archive 9 and 10) to have 2 paragraphs of positive (although it has since become one larger paragraph) and 2 of negative. At the moment there is about 50/50 positively/negatively oriented text. While the campaign was a point of complaint, the overall average is 93 or 94 (depending on who you ask) so if there was a lot of criticism in the article it would be giving undue weight to the negative points. If there is a specific problem (like the mention of sub-par AI for allies) then it can be added. James086Talk | Email 08:43, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
  • Point taken. Wasn't sure about it, but I guess that answers my question. Thanks. Thingg⊕⊗ 16:45, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
I do want to say that these are very minor issues, and as is, this is definately one of the best written articles on Wikipedia. Thingg (talk) 22:16, 15 January 2008 (UTC)
Again, excellent article. Can't wait to see this on the Main Page. Thingg⊕⊗ 16:45, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
Thanks for the review and responses. James086Talk | Email 23:21, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
  • Support Excellent article. Definately deserves this. J.delanoygabsadds 18:16, 18 January 2008 (UTC)
The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.