Talk:Wolf

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[edit] Named Mob List

I don't know why we're listing all the named mobs on the Bestiary pages. Listing a few names was only supposed to provide a couple of examples, not act a a comprehensive listing. Especially since most named mobs have no special purpose in WAR; I'm not even sure if such lists are needed. However, I firmly believe that if they are warranted, these articles are not the correct place to include them. -- Heaven's Agent 06:37, 25 March 2009 (UTC)

To me it seems like an apt use of the article. A bestiary entry should be everything you want to know about the creature in WAR. What they look like, where they can be found, what is in the ToK about them, what unlocks you can get related to them, can they be butchered or scavenged and what you get from that and what common and unique (named) ones are there in the game world to be found.

In all honestly, I don't see this information as any less necessary than a slew of categories listing specific variants of critters found in specific zones or articles devoted to individual common items found in the game. Just because not everyone has an interest in it, doesn't make it a unwarranted topic for this wiki.

Having said that, some lists of named creatures seem to be getting a bit long and could probably use their own page with a link from the main bestiary entry. I would not suggest a category page as I find it more useful to be able to look at the location, rank and power of each creature of a type without having to click through to individual pages. It would be better to make pages with a pair of tables. One listing every "common" variant of a type of creature in the game and the other listing every "unique" variant of the same type of creature in the game. -- Mawgrim 08:09, 25 March 2009 (UTC)

Before we start making unique articles, there's two things we need to keep in mind. First, these Bestiary articles are supposed to be a mirror of ToK entries within the game; such information isn't part of those entries, and probably shouldn't be part of these articles as a result. Unless we want to change that approach to their design.

Second, does the list serve a purpose? It's neat to know what named mobs are in the game, but I can't discern any practical application of this knowledge. The vast majority of named mobs serve no greater purpose than do common mobs, and don't need to be differentiated. Unless a reason for having such a list can be defined, it shouldn't be a part of the project.

Regarding a few of your other comments, a comprehensive list of mobs would be useful for the purpose of unlocks, but lengthy as well. That's why it's been divided up by zone, to make the amount of entries in such tables more manageable. Regarding categories, they are never intended to act in the capacity of wiki article structure, or as articles themselves. They are intended to be an index, and nothing more. As such, everything needs to be categorized, and ideally linked by the category structure to the main page. -- Heaven's Agent 18:08, 25 March 2009 (UTC)

At the very least these pages will provide players who want to complete kill 1,000,000 chipmunks with a list of chipmunks that they can kill. It also helps players with butchery and scavenging to find appropriate beasts to hunt for butchering and scavenging. The reason for having a separate list for common mobs and named mobs on the same page is simple. Named mobs are unique. Having them in a separate list makes that intuitively obvious. -- Mawgrim 02:49, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

That's the thing: for all intents and purposes most named mobs are not unique. They have a name that no other mob has, sure, but in the vast majority of situations they serve no role outside that of normal mobs. They don't drop loot that doesn't drop as easily from common mobs, nor do they count more than common mobs for the purpose of kill totals.

And with regard to kill totals and butchering in general, the existing lists by zone that we have been compiling will be more helpful than any lists that contain named variants only. Is there a practical reason wherein folks need to know which mobs are named, which mobs are unique? If there is, such a list may be warranted. But if not, it's unneeded. I've been giving this a fair amount of thought over the weekend and I still can't come up with such a reason. -- Heaven's Agent 04:20, 31 March 2009 (UTC)