Mass Effect Andromeda Wiki:Rules and policies

Rules and polices for the Mass Effect: Andromeda wiki are an important set of guidelines and conduct for our successful community.

It is important to note that not every rule, policy, or convention may be listed here. Due to the complexity of the game itself and the extensive documentation of the wiki, listing every tiny item would be burdensome and take more time than actually creating content for the wiki. If you have questions, reach out to the administrators and they will gladly answer your questions.

General Rules

 * Assume good faith: Assuming good faith is a fundamental principle on any wiki. As anyone is allowed to edit, it follows that we assume that most people who work on the project are trying to help it, not hurt it. If this were not true, a project would be doomed from the beginning.
 * Keep it civil: Do not make personal attacks on other people. If you need to criticize another user’s argument, do so without attacking them as a person. Do not use bigoted language, including slurs which degrade another person or group of people based on gender, race, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, etc.
 * Be a productive member of the wiki: Contribute to the wiki in line with the established processes and conventions. Need help? Ask an administrator! Disrupting the wiki with “edit warring” over differing opinions of a topic with another user or group of users is not productive.
 * Do not engage in excessive self-promotion: The wiki is a collaborative community resource for the topic at hand. It is NOT a free place to advertise your related website, YouTube channel, blog, social media account, etc. Have a question about whether your link would be welcome? Ask an administrator!
 * Do not harass other users: If somebody asks you to stop posting certain content on their user page, respect their wishes. It is their page.
 * Do follow community guidelines for formatting: When a community has established formatting, it’s important to adhere to that, especially when spoiler content is involved.
 * No politics, religion, or other controversial subjects: This wiki is a community founded around our interest in a common subject. This wiki is a respite from the real world and divisive subjects aren't allowed on this wiki. Politics, religion, and controversial subjects are forbidden on this wiki (including user pages). While we each have personal opinions about these subjects in our real lives, this wiki is not the place to discuss those issues. Content that violates this rule will be immediately removed and a warning issued to the editor. Repeated offenses will be blocked swiftly.

Mass Effect: Andromeda Content Only
This wiki specifically deals with Mass Effect: Andromeda. Mass Effect: Andromeda is a stand alone game in both content and gameplay style. This wiki is dedicated to this content only and not trying to tie back to old games with different content from the same creator. It does not include content from the prior games or any other content not directly related to this game. Some content is included such as books and collectors items only because they are tied to the game itself.

The key policy is this: '''If it isn't in the game, or mentioned by the game, it doesn't go on the wiki. Period.'''

There may be instances where information on an in-game function isn't available from gameplay but the developers have divulged what that information is. In those cases, proven information can be included. The Damage Resistance formula is an example of this. In those rare instances, credit must given for where it came from or it will be considered unproven and deleted.

Sourcing and Credit
This wiki takes sourcing and credit very seriously. All uploaded pictures and any content from the game will have credit attributed to it correctly with license templates. References to outside sources such as tweets, news stories, or any other sourcing will be added with reference tags and credit given to the original author.

Any content not attributed can be deleted by admins after one week of time. This allows the uploader the time to add this information assuming in good faith it was missed or they didn't understand how to do this. Admins will reach out in these cases to help guide new users on how to complete actions like this. Repeated violations of not attributing credit and sources can result in blocks of increasing length.

Standardization
Many of the wiki pages follow a standardized format for matching pages for similar content using items such as infoboxes, section headers, matching text, formatting styles, etc.

This standardization is already in place and pages have been matched. Before attempting to make widespread changes, reach out to an admin to find out how these pages and standardization are connected and interrelated. You may decide to make a needed change but not understand the ramifications for making that change. It is important to discuss these before making changes so that these fixes can be made.
 * Add needed hyperlinks to help users find content without overlinking (if possible). On short articles, the first instance of a place to put a hyperlink is used. There is no need to put a link on every instance of a word. On longer articles with multiple sections, additional links may be needed so that the user doesn't have to scroll up on article to find a link. In cases such as this, multiple links are permitted to help users connect to additional content.
 * Terminal entries, datapads, and other in-game content where the template is used will not use hyperlinks in that section of text.

Blocking
Blocking is a last resort on this wiki. Blocking will take place if rules and policies are violated. Blocks will increase in length for repeated violations.

Teaching and informing editors about the wiki rules and policies is very important. Admins will only use blocking after having discussions with the editor and rules continue to be violated. Every effort to help the editor will be made before blocking takes place.

Violating specific rules will get an immediate block due to the severity of the infraction. Spamming, vandalism of a clear nature, or abusing users will get a block right away.

A single day block may be used to stop an individual who is making changes but isn't responding to messages from admins. This block is only to be used to alert the editor that they need to check their user page and have a discussion about content and/or changes being made. Sometimes editors are on a roll making changes and just don't see a message. This gets their attention without having to revert lots of changes. The block will be removed as soon as the editor acknowledges the message and stops the edits. This is not a punitive block and will not be held against the user in the future.