Talk:Devon Carver

Feedback about this page

Hi,

We (ArenaNet) do not usually comment about the content of the wiki, unless there are some inaccuracies we can help correct, but we feel that this page would benefit from a tiny bit of "cleaning". The last sentence quoted from our original blogpost (not available anymore) sounds at best a bit odd out of context and is very prone to misinterpretations (over even worse, manipulation). So I'm coming here to the article's discussion page to propose that this last sentence be removed.

From a pure documentation's perspective, this sentence adds nothing, as this was more a tongue-in-cheek comment on a small part of our blog than a piece of information about this developer. Nevertheless, this gesture could be construed as a form of manipulation by the wiki and we'd like to open the door to discussing it.

Please let me know what you think! --Stephane Lo Presti talk 23:35, 8 October 2013 (UTC)

I am fully aware that UK/US humour/humor differs, often greatly. To a Brit, that last sentence is amusing but in no way would it be thought of anything more than a light-hearted comment and of no real significance at all. Certainly it would be difficult to interpret it as anything more than a "jokey" aside, something a humorously self-deprecating person would say. OTOH, US readers may make more of this. --Claret (talk) 00:48, 9 October 2013 (UTC)

It's not clear from the quote that it's actually tongue-in-cheek. Given the forum vitriol directed at this employee, I would support adding text that makes the context clear. Pending such clarification, I have to agree with the OP that such text is subject to misinterpretation and manipulation. Since the OP isn't comfortable removing the sentence, I have taken the liberty of doing so. 75.37.23.32 01:15, 9 October 2013 (UTC)

It's obvious to me and to several people I asked to look at it that it's 100% obviously tongue-in-cheek. Two countries separated by a common language. And a rather large ocean, ofc. --Claret (talk) 01:43, 9 October 2013 (UTC)

I would support altering this simply because of the way it could be used to attack Devon when it was meant in a more lighthearted manner. This current quote seems like it's troll bait to the max. --70.49.192.229 02:53, 9 October 2013 (UTC)

Quotes are dumb--Relyk ~ talk < 03:00, 9 October 2013 (UTC)

"Troll bait" is closer to what I meant. Yes, it's obvious *to me* that it was something that Devon Carter wrote about himself with tongue in cheek. Unfortunately, even if reasonable people agree that it was meant to be funny, given the current mood on the forums, it will be used out of context. That said, if trolls don't use that comment to bash this employee, I'm sure they would find another quote or point to the archive.

I now think that maybe the best thing is to ask Devon directly whether he cares or not. If he does, then I see no problem with the wiki respecting his wishes. If he doesn't care or doesn't respond, then it's also okay to copy/paste the original text from a prior version of ANet's official site. 75.37.23.32 05:56, 9 October 2013 (UTC)

added: looks like someone updated the page to be a summary rather than a quote from the developer. I like that solution, since it sidesteps the issue entirely and is more consistent with the wiki generally. 75.37.23.32 05:58, 9 October 2013 (UTC)

(1) At the rate this page is being trimmed, why not just delete it. (2) Have you people got no sense of humour? You are already being laughed at on-line. --Claret (talk) 08:39, 9 October 2013 (UTC)

(Reset indent) Thanks everyone for the feedback, the help and ultimately reworking that page. Articles about developers fall into this weird category of: 1) not being about the game itself; 2) being about "real" people, which brings in a host of issues and questions; and 3) not having solid and up-to-date facts that the wiki community can double-check itself. There aren't many of those so I think we can deal with them on an ad hoc basis, as was done in this case. --Stephane Lo Presti talk 16:26, 9 October 2013 (UTC)

Turned a page with some life and humour into the opposite. Tragic really... He's a person, but the personality has disappeared. (IMHO ofc) --Claret (talk) 16:31, 9 October 2013 (UTC)

The link to the archive contains the entirety of what the page previously said. It doesn't make sense to completely copy+paste something and then link to the source. Actually after looking at other ArenaNet employee articles, I'm going to strongly suggest we revert the changes back to the original version. See Stephane Lo Presti, Leif Chappelle, or others- consistency is important. And when I say strongly suggest, I mean I'm doing it. 16:35, 9 October 2013 (UTC)

Fully and strongly agree. Thanks. Let Devon spend 5 minutes looking at it and let him change it if he's not happy. Or someone else on his behalf. --Claret (talk) 17:25, 9 October 2013 (UTC)

Well that's a bad revert. We say normal stuff when there's no quote if you looked at any other anet article, which obviously felix didn't. You could have re-added the quote. Nice job. And quotes are still dumb.--Relyk ~ talk < 17:39, 9 October 2013 (UTC)

I have to agree, there's often more we can say than the quote from the blog (and it's nicer to put some thought into the page instead of pasting something), and ANet employee pages have almost no development or discussion about their content and no formatting guideline, so consistency isn't nearly as big an issue as on many other page types that are still very inconsistent after years of discussion. Manifold 19:05, 9 October 2013 (UTC)

There are some plans for a new format for employee pages a-brewing. My objection was mostly against responding to a request to remove a single line by reformatting the page. 19:08, 9 October 2013 (UTC

Link? Manifold 19:15, 9 October 2013 (UTC)

Relyk is working on a proposal atm. Edit: this. 19:18, 9 October 2013 (UTC)